


A Life to Remember

by Gervas1981



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-11-12 04:00:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11153802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gervas1981/pseuds/Gervas1981
Summary: A woman is found alongside Captain America in Antarctica. Who, and what, she is is a mystery.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little something I have been working on concerning an OC in the MCU. Please let me know what you think, comments and ideas are much appreciated. And no I will not tell you who the romance is with, you’ll have to read to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When dialogue appears in italics it is being spoken in a foreign language. I will have some stuff written out in French but I hate when I have to read a story with translations so I won’t write a lot in French.

Perros-Guirec, France: August 7, 1925

A young woman tucked her daughter in to bed at night, the cool sea air rustling the drapes at the windows. They were both so similar in appearance one would think the little girl was a clone. Practically identical, from their hair the colour of mahogany wood to their eyes the colour of emeralds. The little girl loved her mother more than anything in the world, aspired to be just like her; kindhearted and loving, yet strong and passionate. The little girl often wondered how her mother had ever come to love her father, who had a temper to rival the sea, and was an obnoxious, rude, and narrow-minded man. Her mother often spoke of her home town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French Alpine region to the South-East. Her father had taken her mother away from there, preferring to live near the sea to the North-West. He ruled the house with an iron fist, and had no love or patience for his young, curious daughter. The little girl knew her father didn’t like her, the feelings were mutual. All the girl wanted was to be left alone with her garden, to talk with the plants and the various animals who walked through to visit her.

Yesterday her father had been extremely angry when he’d found her playing in the garden with a falcon. He’d rushed away to get his shotgun but by the time he came back the bird had gone. The little girl had told it to fly away, not to hurt anyone, but to return to its perch and stay safe. The girl’s parents were always finding animals lounging in their back garden, from the more common deer to the rare genet. Falcons especially liked to circle and watch the property. From the day she was born her father knew there was something wrong with her and the large bird had been the last straw.

That morning a tall, severe-looking woman had been in to talk with the little girl’s father. After the meeting he informed her to pack a bag, she would be leaving the next day for a boarding school in Belarus. The little girl did not like the look of the woman, who seemed so different from her mother, and did not want to leave with her.

_“Don’t fret, ma p'tit chatton. I’m sure tomorrow will be just fine,”_ her mother said softly, running her fingers through her daughter’s long hair.

_“Why do you have to send me away, maman?”_

_“Darling, one day this will be the greatest boarding school for girls in all of Europe. It is a great honour to be one of the first students.”_

_“But what if they think I’m strange like everyone else,”_ the girl pleaded.

_“I’m sure they’ll find you just as enchanting as I do,”_ her mother cooed.

The little girl was unconvinced. Why would this new place and new school be any different? Her mother sighed and reached behind her to the clasp of her necklace, removing it and placing it around the little girl’s neck. It was much too large for her, but the firey stone glowed against her skin and the gold band seemed to mold to the shape of her chest and collarbones. The little girl gasped and fingered the warm metal.

_“Maman, you cannot give me this. It was your mother’s.”_

_“And it was her mother’s before that, and her mother’s before that. And now it is yours, ma belle. As long as you have this, the love of your grandmothers will protect you.”_

_“I love you so much, maman,”_ the little girl sniffled.

_“I love you more.”_

_“Can you sing to me, maman?”_

_“Of course, ma belle,”_ she smiled, _“Lie down, and close your eyes.”_

The little girl did as she was told, reveling in the feeling of her mother’s fingers in her hair as she began to softly sing:

“Dodo, l'enfant do,  
L'enfant dormira bien vite  
Dodo, l'enfant do  
L'enfant dormira bientôt.

Une poule blanche  
Est là dans la grange.  
Qui va faire un petit coco  
Pour l'enfant qui va fair’ dodo.

Dodo, l'enfant do,  
L'enfant dormira bien vite  
Dodo, l'enfant do  
L'enfant dormira bientôt.

Tout le monde est sage  
Dans le voisinage  
Il est l'heure d'aller dormir  
Le sommeil va bientôt venir.”

-X-X-X-

April 17, 2012

Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff stood in front of a window, staring in at a young woman, lying asleep on a metal table. Steve Rogers, Captain America, had woken up a couple of hours ago; it was only a matter of time before the second human Popsicle they had fished out of the Arctic followed suit. Neither one wanted to admit that the unconscious woman was the most beautiful creature they had ever seen. There was an ethereal glow to her that they each found slightly disturbing. Her long brown hair seemed to float around her and her skin was flawless and sun-kissed, completely unscarred. She had been wearing a tight leather bodysuit when they’d melted her and had since redressed her in warm cotton. The only thing they hadn’t been able to touch was the firey red and gold collar-like necklace that she wore. The clasp would not come undone no matter what they’d done, so they left it. The jewel at the center practically flickered, just as a  fire would. The doctors couldn’t explain it, she seemed to be in better health than even Rogers had been in. On the outside she looked like a normal human woman, yet her blood and anatomy seemed to be ten times stronger and more resilient, even when compared to the Captain’s, her muscles and skin were much denser. Unsure of what she would do when awake, they had restrained her to the table with strong leather straps.

“Are we sure we want to wake her up? After I told you what I think I know of her?” Natasha asked.

“Rogers wouldn’t be very happy with us if we kept her frozen,” Fury replied.

The woman woke suddenly but seeing the glare of light past her eyelids, kept her eyes closed, assessing her whereabouts. She was certainly not where she last remembered, with her mother in her bedroom. Now she was lying on a cold metal table in an unfamiliar room. There was a slight buzzing in her head, but she ignored it. She felt a set of restraints on her ankles and wrists and strained against them, feeling anxiety rushing through her. Her body began to tremble and fear bubbled in her chest. She hadn't opened her eyes but suddenly she was in a cold, grey, concrete room, her hand was pulled up above her head and a cold metal ring circled her wrist. The stern woman her father sent her away with was looking down her pointed nose at her.

_“You continue to disobey. The more you disobey, the less time you will be allowed outside. You’ll never see your mother again, you insolent girl.”_

The girl hated this woman with every fibre of her being. She hadn’t been aware before that someone could harbour so much hate for one person. But this woman had taken her away from everything she knew, took her away from the only person who had ever loved her. She didn’t understand, couldn’t understand, why she had been sent there. All she wanted was to go back home and lie in her mother’s arms. She didn’t respond, simply continuing to stare back at the woman. She could play whatever games this woman wanted to play, she thought, she was much stronger than this woman, and much more resilient.

_“Let’s get rid of this infernal thing, shall we?”_ the woman sneered, snaking her hand out to wrap her fingers around the girl’s necklace.

_“Don’t touch that!”_ the girl screamed, writhing around on the bed.

The woman grabbed on to the thick collar and yanked. The necklace dug in to the back of the girl’s neck, but it did not break, nor did it hurt her. Instead the gold collar dug in to the woman’s hand, and the little girl watched with sick satisfaction as blood dripped slowly down the woman’s hand and on to the girl’s chest. Served her right, for trying to take away the power of her grandmothers love.

_“Fine!”_ The woman screeched in defeat, dropping the necklace back on to the girl’s neck. _“I think you will not leave this bed for a few days.”_

The woman panicked, wishing she could reach up to assure herself of the necklace’s presence. As if in response the necklace heated suddenly, alerting her to its presence. Had that been a memory? Surely it must have been, since she was supposed to leave with that woman, but she couldn't for the life of her remember actually leaving.

Fury and Natasha watched as the woman trembled on the table, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. They'd watched her strain against the cuffs for a moment before her body had become wracked with silent sobs. She strained again and then suddenly she was not in the cold, grey, concrete room, but in a small clearing in a forest. Soldiers in black uniforms surrounded her as she stared at a dead genet, lying on the ground, its blood staining the green moss beneath it and seeping into the earth. The soldiers lifted her to her feet and clasped her hands behind her back. She was marched back to a camp where she was held for days, receiving little food and constant jeers from the soldiers. Eventually she was taken to a base in the mountains where she was introduced to a man named Schmidt and the restraints were removed.

Another memory? The woman panted heavily and finally opened her eyes, adjusting immediately to the white glare of the lights above her. They hummed annoyingly and caused her head to ache. Fury and Natasha continued to watch the woman. They could see her quickly and efficiently noting everything about her surroundings, in much the same way that Natasha did. She lifted her head to look down at the leather restraints. Her face remained passive but her eyes shone with disgust.

_“Hello?”_ She called out.

Natasha looked to Fury for instruction when she recognized the French language.

_“Is there someone there?”_ The woman called out again, straining against the straps, _“Hello?”_

She tried again to pull at the restraints, the leather of the straps spurring on her anger as again she was met by a new image, this time of a screeching cow, hanging upside down by its back hooves. Someone slit the cow’s throat while it was still alive and the blood rushed down its neck and chin and over the sides of its head to run into its eyes. The woman felt the same pain and wanted to hunt down the cruel imbecile for killing the precious animal in such a sick fashion. If she could just calm herself for a moment, she was sure she had the strength to break the restraints.

The door to the right of the mirror opened and in walked a red headed woman wearing a full leather bodysuit. Again anger coursed through the woman but her attention was pulled elsewhere. Next to the door was a mirror, and looking back at her from that mirror was not herself, but the face of her mother. At least at first glance it appeared to be her mother. Upon closer inspection the woman noticed higher cheekbones, a more defined nose, thicker lips, and curlier hair. Clearly something was wrong, she had been six years old yesterday, hadn't she?

_“Do you speak English?”_ the red head asked in perfect French.

The woman was about to shake her head, no, when she realized that she did know English once she thought about it. How did she know English? Her mother had only ever taught her how to speak in her native tongue of French. And as she thought of it, she realized she’d understood the Russian the woman spoke in her possible memory, and the German in the second.

“Yes,” the woman answered and moments later a tall, intimidating black man wearing a long leather trench coat appeared through the door behind the red headed woman. He had a leather eye patch over his left eye. These people sure liked their leather, the woman noted with disdain.

“Can you please remove the restraints?” the woman asked in a monotonous tone.

“And why would I do that?” the black man retorted.

“I am fully capable of breaking the restraints,” the woman replied calmly, “However I did ask nicely.”

The black man eyed her curiously for a moment before nodding. The redhead approached warily and quickly undid the restraints. She backed away as the woman sat up stiffly, rubbing her wrists.

“Where am I?” she asked.

The black man’s response was to ask her a question in return, “Who are you?”

The woman stared back at him for a moment, reading his stance and posture and facial features, as well as that of the red woman.

“I think you already know who I am.”

He shrugged, speaking in a casual tone, “Maybe. Where you from? You spoke French earlier, but you don’t have an accent.”

Her brow furrowed a moment when she came to the realization as well. How was all of this possible?

“Bretagne, in France,” she replied. “Are we in Belarus?”

For a second the redhead looked surprised; only for a second, but the woman saw it.

“Why would we be in Belarus?” the black man asked.

“My father said he was sending me to a boarding school in Belarus. I’m assuming that’s where I am, although how you managed to age me twenty years is beyond me.”

The redhead cocked her head, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“My mother tucking me in to bed at night and telling me not to worry. I was afraid to go to a new school, away from her.”

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!” the black man huffed, “You expect me to believe you don’t remember practically your entire life?”

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a tall, extremely muscular, and handsome, blond man in a skin-tight white t-shirt and khaki pants barreled his way in to the room.

“You’re awake!” he exclaimed.

A dark-haired woman stood stiffly in the door, looking up at the black man, “I’m sorry, sir, I held him off for as long as I could.”

The black man nodded and dismissed her and the redheaded woman. The woman stared openly at the blond man. He was an extremely delicious-looking specimen. Apparently he knew her, but she didn’t think she knew him. Although, she was thinking she’d like to get to know him. This thought also confused her. So far she didn’t know where her knowledge of the English, Russian, and German languages had come from, why she had aged significantly, or what she was doing in some strange white room, not to mention her new-found skills at reading people. She’d always had skills that no one else seemed to possess, but she’d never been an extremely observant child.

“Sylvie?” the blond said, “Are you okay?”

The woman scrunched her face up in confusion, “Do I know you?”

He looked taken aback and for a moment Sylvie was afraid she’d hurt his feelings. Perhaps he was an old lover?

“You don’t remember me?” he asked.

Sylvie shook her head, “I’m very sorry if we were lovers. But they do tend to come and go.”

Where had that come from? She couldn’t remember even having any lovers, yet that statement had felt so natural sliding off her tongue.

The man blushed, “Um, no, we were not, um, not lovers.”

“Oh, okay then,” Sylvie shrugged, “Can you tell me where I am now, and what I’m doing here? I’d like to get back to my mother as soon as I can. I’m sure she’s been missing me.”

The blond man stared at her, confused. The black man cleared his throat, “How ‘bout you tell us what you know, and we’ll try to fill in the rest.”

Sylvie nodded. “Well, my name is Sylvie De La Mer. I’m from Perros-Guirec, France. My mother is Piera and my father is Destan. The last thing I remember is being put to sleep by my mother when I was six years old, the next day I was supposed to attend a new boarding school in Belarus. Now where am I and who are you?”

The black man shook his head. The blond man continued to look confused. He looked up at Sylvie and said slowly, “I’m Steve Rogers.”

He paused, as if waiting for Sylvie to recognize him. She smiled politely. “Nice to meet you, Steve.”

“We’ve met before, Sylvie,” he said disbelievingly, “We met in the Austrian Alps in October of 1943.”

Sylvie’s smile dropped, “No we didn’t. I’ve never been to Austria. Besides, it’s 1925.”

Steve shook his head slowly, “Sylvie, it’s not 1925.”

Her face fell, “What do you mean?”

“It’s 2012,” the black man answered.

Sylvie shook her head, “No. That’s impossible.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t,” Steve said softly.

“But that would mean -” Sylvie’s words caught in her throat. If it was really the year 2012 that would mean that eighty-seven years had gone by. Without even wondering how she was capable of doing that math Sylvie realized with an ache in her heart, that if it really was 2012, she would be ninety-three years old. And if she was ninety-three years old, her mother would be one-hundred and twelve years old. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked in to Steve’s clear blue eyes, tears stinging the backs of her own green ones, “People don’t happen to live to a-hundred-and-twelve now, do they?”

He sighed and shook his head. A moment later Sylvie’s body shook with agonized sobs. She allowed herself to cry for only a few seconds before reigning it in. Sylvie wanted nothing more than to pour her grief out in the form of tears but something was telling her not to, that it was a sign of weakness. Steve rubbed her arm and whispered kindly, “It’s gonna be okay. I got ya.”

“As much as I hate to break up this little heart-to-heart, Captain, but aren’t you forgetting a little detail?”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that she’s a highly-trained assassin?”

Sylvie convulsed violently and threw her head back to stare up at the black man. Had he lost his mind? Assassin? Sylvie would never hurt a thing in her life.

“Fury, do we have to talk about this now?”

“When would you like to talk about it, Cap? When she has a knife pressed to your throat?”

Sylvie’s mouth widened in horror, “I would never. Steve seems like a very nice man, I wouldn’t dream of hurting him. I’m not an assassin. You must be thinking of someone else.”

“No, we’re pretty sure we know who you are. You’re responsible for quite a few deaths, young lady,” Fury said, throwing a folder down beside her, “Including this one.”

Before Steve could stop her, Sylvie grabbed the folder and opened it to find a picture of her own father, older, with white hair, lying in a pool of his own blood. She shook her head, pushing the folder away.

“My father and I didn’t exactly get along, but I wouldn’t kill him.”

“Blood was found under his fingernails,” Fury added.

Again Sylvie shook her head, the buzzing that had been in her head now turned to a dull pounding and she fought against the pain, “That doesn’t mean I killed my father.”

“We have a little thing called DNA testing now. Recent tests done show that it was your blood.”

Sylvie felt saliva building up in her mouth and her throat began to burn. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to fight back the urge to vomit. The pounding in her head intensified with each passing second. Fury placed another folder down on the table.

“You were thought to be dead until we chipped you out of the ice.”

“Dead? Why was I thought dead? Surely my father knew where I was.”

“Your father reported you missing on August 8, 1925,” he said, pointing at the folder.

With a shaking hand Sylvie reached out to grab the new folder. She opened it to find an old police report, yellowed with age, dated August 8, 1925, the day she was supposed to leave for boarding school, stating that she had run away. Attached was a copy of a note, written out on her father’s stationary, claiming to be written by her.  But if she had run away, then what was the possible memory she had just had? The pounding grew stronger and stronger and Sylvie pressed a finger to her temple as she stared at the report.

“This doesn’t make any sense. I didn’t want to go, but I wouldn’t have run away,” she turned over the report, there was nothing else until exactly twelve years later, when they had found her blood under her father’s fingernails. After that were a few papers, stuff she couldn’t understood, but she caught the word blood. Figuring it was more to do with her father’s murder, she set it aside.

“Some people thought you might be a ghost, until you turned up frozen in the Arctic with the Captain, here.”

“I have to be dreaming,” Sylvie moaned, banging her hand against her forehead. The pounding was stronger still. “Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.”

“Stop that,” Steve said, grabbing her hands and holding them against his chest.

If Sylvie hadn’t been so overwhelmed she would have noticed how nice his chest felt.

“My head,” she groaned, “There’s like a humming or a buzzing noise. It’s hurting my head. Make it stop.”

“What buzzing noise?”

“The buzzing noise!” Sylvie said angrily, pulling her hands roughly from Steve’s to hold her head. “Is there a garden somewhere?”

Steve swung Sylvie up in to his arms and followed Fury out the door. Sylvie couldn’t concentrate anymore, the pain was so bad. With one hand she clutched her head, the other Steve’s arm, trying to keep herself steady. She wasn’t sure how long they walked for, but eventually they came out through a door and she felt the warm and comforting rays of sunshine beaming down on her. Steve placed Sylvie on a bench but she slid off to sit on the ground, sifting her fingers through the little blades of grass. The grass grew, so little it was unnoticeable to anyone other than Sylvie, reaching up towards her the way a small child would reach for its mother. At least that was still the same, she sighed in relief. Sylvie looked up to find they were in a small garden, surrounded by a tall stone wall, birds flitting above their heads, bees grazing from flower to flower. She breathed deeply, headache gone.

“Are you all right?” Steve asked.

“Better,” she took slow, deep breaths, “But no, I’m not all right. The last thing I can remember is being back in France, with my mother. And you’re telling me that not only did I murder my own father, but it’s now somehow 2012. That means I’m ninety-three years old. How do I go from six to ninety-three?”

“Trust me,” Steve sighed, “I know how you feel.”

“The only other thing we know concerning your whereabouts, which comes from your dear Captain, is that you were working for HYDRA,” Fury said.

“What’s HYDRA?”

“They were the Nazi science division, lead by a man named Schmidt,” Steve replied.

Sylvie gasped, "Schmidt! It was a memory! I met Schmidt."

Steve looked at her hopefully, but Sylvie shrugged, "That's all I know. I don’t know what HYDRA or Nazi is.”

Fury huffed, “Germany.”

“Germany? Why would I be working for a German organization? I’m French.”

“We don’t know. You’re the only one who knows that. But Germany did invade France in 1940. Maybe they picked you up, then.”

“And that’s how I ended up knowing you?” she asked Steve, who nodded in response.

“That’s also where we think you were experimented on,” Fury added.

Steve turned to look at him quickly, “Experimented? Like with Bucky?”

Bucky. The name caused a tingle of recognition in the back of her mind.

Fury shrugged, “I don’t know what they were doing to your friend, Cap. But we took her blood, and none of our doctors can figure out why it’s different. We think she may even be stronger than you.”

“I don’t think this HYDRA organization did anything to my blood,” Sylvie shook her head, “I don’t feel any different. I’ve always been this way.”

“Always been what way?” Steve asked.

She shrugged, “Stronger, faster, smarter, weirder.”

Their attention was pulled away by a black cat, perched on top of the stone wall. It called out to Sylvie, jumping down to land gracefully by her feet.

_“Hello, beautiful,”_ Sylvie cooed, reaching over to stroke the cat affectionately. “So how did I get from 1925 to 2012?”

“Well, we don’t know about before, but you and Steve crashed in the Arctic in 1945. You’ve been asleep for almost seventy years.”

“How is that even possible?”

“Probably has something to do with your stronger blood, for both of you.”

“But why can’t I remember anything?”

Fury shrugged and Steve sighed, “I think Schmidt did something to you before we went down. You were strapped in to a machine, and you were unconscious.”

Sylvie sighed and scratched the cat’s ear, leaning down to talk to it, “I know, none of this makes any sense, does it?”

The cat purred and then Sylvie snorted, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

When Sylvie raised her head again Steve and Fury were staring at her as if she’d grown another head. She looked back at them, wondering if there was perhaps something on her face. She raised an eyebrow in question.

“Who you talking to?” Fury asked.

Sylvie looked at him just as strangely as he had her, “The cat, who else?”

“The cat?” Steve repeated.

“Yeah,” Sylvie shrugged, “She has an opinion, too.”

“Uh-huh,” Fury scoffed, “Lady, are you crazy?”

“I may not remember what’s happened for most of my life, but I am not crazy. And we both think you’re extremely rude for saying so,” Sylvie scolded. “I’ve been able to speak to nature and animals for as long as I can remember. It’s why my father and I never got along.”

“That’s why you feel better in the garden,” Steve noted.

Sylvie nodded, “I’ve always felt more at home when I’m outside.”

Steve turned to look at Fury. “Sir, I’d like her to come with me to that retreat you spoke of earlier.”

Fury shook his head. “The World Security Council will never allow it. They’ll want to at least monitor her for a while, to make sure she really doesn’t remember anything. And they’ll want her to talk to a psychiatrist.”

“You saw what happened to her in there. She’s more comfortable outside.”

“It’s out of my hands, Captain.” Fury sighed, “I’ll do my best to get her out of here within the week.”

“And what, she’s going to live in a cell until then?”

“Please don’t lock me up,” Sylvie begged.

“What if I posted a guard at that door,” Fury pointed back to the door they’d exited the building from, “24 hours a day, and you can stay out here?”

Sylvie nodded emphatically, “I promise, I’ll be good. And I’ll answer any questions you have; if I know the answer, that is.”

“I think I can get the Council to agree to that.”

Steve sighed, not looking pleased. He looked back at Sylvie, “I don’t like leaving you here.”

Sylvie placed her hand on his arm, “It’s okay, Steve.”

Fury nodded, “Stay here for a minute, Cap. I’ll get everything set up. I promise I’ll get her out to you as soon as I can.”

Steve finally nodded in return and Fury retreated back in to the large, grey building. He took a seat next to Sylvie on the grass and reached a hand out to pet the cat.

“So, you really can talk to animals?”

“Yep. Always have.”

“All of them?”

Sylvie shrugged, “Well, I don’t know about all of them. But I’ve never met an animal I couldn’t talk to.”

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll attack you?”

“If they attack me, I probably deserve it.”

Steve chuckled, a small smile appearing on his lips.

“You should smile more often, Steve. It looks better on you.”

He chuckled again, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They sat in comfortable silence until Fury returned. Trailing behind him was a tall, silent, dark-haired man. Sylvie couldn’t read any emotion in his face, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t like him. He stood next to the heavy steel door, back straight.

“Miss De La Mer, this is Agent Rumlow. He’ll be on guard duty for the next two hours until someone comes to replace him. If you need anything, just let him know.”

Sylvie nodded, holding tighter to the cat. “Actually, all I’ll need is some water, please and thank you.”

Fury nodded towards Rumlow who proceeded to speak in to a little black device hanging from his ear. Steve stood and with one last look at Sylvie, followed Fury back in to the building.

Sylvie would have felt much better if she’d been alone. Rumlow stood at the door eerily quietly and it made Sylvie shiver as if she were cold, which was odd because she’d never felt cold before in her life. A few minutes later another guard came out to give her water that came in a strange clear container. Resigning herself to a long week, Sylvie sighed and laid back to stare up at the clouds slowly floating above her head.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Starting to get the story moving along a little. Sorry it might be a little slow, I hope it's not boring you before I get to the romance bits, but the romance isn't really the whole point of the story, so.

April 18, 2012 

"She didn't sleep all night," Sylvie heard her guard, this one a young woman called Jones, whisper.

From her perch in the tree, Sylvie looked over to find Jones speaking with a much older woman in a crisp grey suit. She was carrying a pad of paper and a pen. Her greying blonde hair was pulled in to a severely tight updo which made Sylvie's head hurt just to look at. The woman turned towards her then, her lips pressed in a tight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"How are you today, Miss De La Mer?" The woman said, stepping towards her.

Sylvie dropped from the tree to sit cross-legged on the grass. "I'm fine."

"My name is Dr. Katherine Harper. I'm S.H.I.E.L.D.'s head psychiatrist," the woman said, taking a seat on the wooden bench beneath the tree.

"You're here to determine whether I'm telling the truth," Sylvie stated.

"We're just going to talk," Dr. Harper said stiffly. "I hear you aren't sleeping. Are you feeling okay?"

Sylvie nodded, "Oh yes, I'm quite fine. I'm having a pleasant time conversing with the birds and the squirrels and the plants," She then picked up the bottle of water given to her the day before, "However the water they brought me tastes funny."

"Well, I'll see what we can do about that," Dr. Harper said, jotting a note down on her pad of paper. "Why haven't you been sleeping?"

"I'm not tired," Sylvie shrugged.

And it was true. She hadn't felt tired or fatigued since she'd woken up. So far, she hadn't found it too strange. She'd never slept much as a child, either. As it stood, Sylvie had never felt better, she was even stronger than she remembered, which made sense since she was obviously much older than she remembered.

"I understand that the last thing you recall is being tucked in to bed by your mother in 1925," Dr. Harper confirmed and Sylvie nodded lightly. "How are you feeling about all of this? Waking up so much later and not remembering?"

"I can't stop thinking about her. I don't care that I can't remember what happened to me, and I don't care that somehow I'm fully grown, and somehow over ninety years old. I'm never going to see my mother again, and I have no idea what happened to her after that night. Every time I think of her my chest gets all hot and tight. I'm afraid that I killed her, but Fury says no one knows what happened to her."

"That's completely understandable. And I'm sure that Fury will do everything he can to find out what happened to her. But don't blame yourself."

"How can I not?" Sylvie huffed, and for a moment her strength waned, causing a single tear to slide down her cheek, "If I ran away, it would have broken her heart. What if she died because I ran away?"

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry you have to go through this. And I'm sorry that you may never know what happened to her. But you need to understand that you were very young, and that none of it was your fault."

Sylvie felt the tear collect at the corner of her mouth and her tongue darted out to capture it. The salty flavour burst on to her tongue and the next thing Sylvie knew she was staring up at that vicious Russian woman again. She could feel tears running down her face and the woman was sneering down at her, holding a leather crop. Each time Sylvie sobbed the woman's arm would move suddenly and the crop would crack against her skin. She looked down at her small hands and received another flick of the crop.

"You will look at me when I punish you, child," she said in thickly-accented English.

 _"Stop!"_ Sylvie cried in French, shaking her head, and received another lashing.

"English!" The woman roared.

Sylvie had been forced to begin speaking in English at all times, or Russian if the woman spoke to her in Russian. But when Sylvie became nervous, or sad, or angry, she couldn't help reverting back to French.

"Please stop!" she begged.

"Better," the woman said stiffly, standing and straightening her blazer. "No more crying."

The clean scent of the morning breeze returned Sylvie to the present. Dr. Harper hadn't noticed a thing and was writing on her notepad again. Sylvie took a deep, calming breath.

"Are you feeling well enough to continue?" Dr. Harper asked.

Sylvie nodded.

"Have you thought about what you want to do now? After you get out of here?"

"I'm going to be with Steve," she answered. "He's waiting for me."

"Yes, but have you thought about how you're going to live? What it will be like in this new world?"

"Well, I'm worried I won't fit in."

"Why wouldn't you fit in?" Dr. Harper asked, pen poised to write more notes.

Sylvie held her hand out for a moment and then up from the ground sprouted a thin tree trunk. It grew taller and thicker until finally it was a beautiful young apple tree, bright red apples dangling from it's branches. Sylvie plucked an apple delicately from the tree and took a bite.

"If you can't tell, I'm not exactly normal."

Dr. Harper stared at the tree in amazement as it slowly regressed back in to the Earth.

"My mother was the only one who didn't look at me like I was a monster. My father hated me for this, and the other children teased me. What would be different this time around?"

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Dr. Harper cleared her throat, "Believe it or not, Miss De La Mer, there are many other special people like you, now. For example Captain Rog -"

"Steve," Sylvie nodded. "He's very pretty."

Dr. Harper chuckled and conceded, "Yes. Well, when he was born he was very sickly and he grew to be a very small man with a lot of health problems. His father was in the army, so when World War 2 started, Captain Rogers wanted nothing more than to serve as well, alongside his best friend. But the army wouldn't take him, he was too small and too weak and too sick. One day he met a man, a German scientist by the name of Abraham Erskine."

Sylvie felt the tingle of recognition again.

"Erskine had developed a serum, which upon injection, would make the patient stronger and faster. The army wanted to give it to a soldier who was already strong, rather than waste it on an extremely sick man they believed would die upon injection, but Erskine refused."

"So they gave this serum to Steve?"

"Yes, and all of his sicknesses were healed, he grew more than a foot taller, and gained significant muscle mass. He is one of the strongest and fastest human beings on the planet now. And on top of that, no one knows if he is capable of dying of old age or not. The serum has made him stronger on a cellular level, so his cells now heal themselves. Whether that ever eventually stops happening is unknown. So, you see, he isn't normal, either."

"Yeah, but he can't talk to animals or ask plants to grow for him."

"There's also a school, just outside of this very city, actually. The man who runs it is an extremely powerful telepath."

"What's a telepath?"

"He can move things with his mind, and speak to people without ever actually talking. He can also control people, but he chooses not to."

"And he runs a school?" Sylvie asked in disbelief.

"Yes, he runs a school specifically for special children, like you. These days we call them Mutants. And every one of the children at the school can do something different, along with the teachers."

"So, I'm a mutant?"

"No," Dr. Harper said slowly, "Mutants have a gene that is different from humans, which allows their unique power to manifest inside them. The doctors did not find this with you. We're not sure what you are, unfortunately."

"So, I'm still a freak of nature."

"Yes, but you aren't the only one."

-X-X-X-

April 21, 2012

Once again Sylvie found herself lying on the grass, staring up at the clouds. She'd been in the garden for four days now. Every day Dr. Harper had visited her to talk, but she was getting restless. She wanted to start exploring this new world. She wanted to see Steve again and ask him about who she was before. So far no other memories had returned to her, but Sylvie wasn't sure she wanted them to. If she began to remember then she would remember killing her father, and possibly her mother. She'd contemplated this for hours, and had yet to come up with a reason as to why she would kill her own father; or anyone in general.

The guards tried not to stare at her, but she could tell they were all extremely curious, and possibly afraid, of her. She hadn't slept at all, wasn't even tired. They kept giving her odd looks too, because each time they changed guards they asked her if she needed to use the bathroom, and each time she refused. She really didn't need to go. She was thirsty, though. None of the water they brought her tasted right. First the water in the clear bottle, and then water in a glass cup, it was all laced with chemicals and Sylvie found herself choking on it each time. The only water she'd been able to drink was the dew that the leaves of the elm tree in the corner captured.

"Miss De La Mer," the deep, authoritative voice of Nick Fury interrupted her thoughts.

He was standing at the steel door that led in to the building, again in his leather outfit. Sylvie didn't think he wore anything else.

"Ready to go?" he asked, signalling to the door.

Sylvie jumped up quickly, "Really?"

Fury nodded. "The Council can't see any reason for us to keep you here any longer. Dr. Harper has given you a clean bill of health, and you've been most cooperative. But I do ask that you tell us if you start remembering anything."

"Absolutely," Sylvie nodded, jumping on the balls of her feet excitedly.

"Follow me, then."

Fury led Sylvie back in to the building. Again the buzzing noise invaded her mind, but she found it much more easy to deal with. She followed him through a maze of hallways, each one exactly the same as the last; bright fake lighting and white walls. Finally, when the buzzing noise really began to bother Sylvie, did they emerge into a large open room. At the other end was a wall of windows which Fury led her to. One of them was a door and Fury held it open for her. Sylvie came to a halt almost immediately; she knew about cities, but had never been to one, so she was surprised, terrified, and horrified by the noise and chaos and sheer amount of people and vehicles bustling by. The air was thick with smoke and other fumes Sylvie couldn't place and she covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stop the pollution from entering her lungs.

"Putain, c'est quoi ce bordel?" Sylvie sputtered.

"Captain Rogers had a similar reaction, although not quite so severe."

"I can hardly breathe."

"Come on," Fury led her to a large black vehicle. At least Sylvie thought it was a vehicle, based on the four wheels, although it looked quite a lot different from her father's Mercedes 770. Fury opened the shiny black door to reveal a leather-covered bench. Sylvie backed away.

"I can't get in there."

Fury sighed, rolling his eyes. "Why not?"

"The leather. I don't want to see that again."

"See what again?"

"I don't want to see what the poor animal went through."

"It's fake leather," Fury assured her.

Sylvie took a few careful steps towards the car and slowly reached her hand out to touch the shiny black material. No image of a cow screeching came to her, although the material didn't feel good against her skin, as if there was nothing natural about it at all. Taking a deep breath, Sylvie climbed in to the back of the vehicle and sat on as little of the seat as possible.

"Agent Hill will take you to the Retreat," Fury motioned to the same dark-haired woman Sylvie had seen a few days earlier, who returned his nod, "Captain Rogers will be waiting there for you."

Sylvie nodded, Fury closed the door, and then they began to move. She stared out the window as tall buildings and a myriad of lights rushed past them. As far as she could remember, she'd never seen less Earth and trees in her life. Sylvie didn't like it. It took them over an hour to get out of the city, and another hour for them to reach the Retreat. Sylvie was very happy to discover that the Retreat was a small wood cabin in the middle of a dense forest; she could even sense a lake nearby, and she couldn't wait to dip her toes in to the cool water. Steve came out of the cabin and opened the door for her, holding his hand out. She took it and stepped lightly out of the vehicle, breathing in the fresh air deeply. This was much better. Agent Hill walked around to meet them.

"You'll probably be here for another week or so. We're still looking in to getting you set up with an apartment," she said to Steve.

"What about Sylvie?" he asked.

"That's been more difficult. We're aware that she doesn't do well in the city so we're looking in to other options."

"That's very kind of you, thank you," Sylvie said, placing her hand casually on the side of the cottage. Immediately her mind was bombarded with the image of a shirtless, handsome man with curly, black hair who looked to be in the middle of constructing the cottage. Without even thinking she whispered to herself, "Banner."

"Excuse me?" Agent Hill asked, startled.

Sylvie shook her head to remove the image and repeated, "Banner. Does that word mean something?"

"Bruce Banner?"

"Who's Bruce Banner?" Sylvie shrugged.

"He built this cabin."

Sylvie looked back at the oak-wood siding, "Oh, [i]that's[/i] what you were saying."

"I didn't say anything," Agent Hill replied skeptically.

"Not you," Sylvie smiled politely, "The cabin. All it told me was Banner, which confused me for a moment there."

Agent Hill looked up at Steve in confusion. He shook his head, chuckling, "Don't ask."

Sylvie walked around the exterior of the cabin as Agent Hill got back in to the vehicle and drove off. Her attention was immediately pulled towards the crystal clear water of the lake, the sun reflecting off it's smooth surface. Without a second thought Sylvie stepped lightly forward. She heard Steve rounding the cabin as well.

"You may not want to go swimming, the water is pretty cold," he called out to her but Sylvie wasn't listening. 

Before Steve could protest Sylvie shed the itchy white clothing S.H.I.E.L.D. had dressed her in and dove in to the water. She hated wearing clothing, it always felt wrong, especially that brazier they'd put on her. The cool water was refreshing and she spun around playfully before emerging. Steve was standing a few feet from the water's edge, staring at the spot where she'd left her clothes. His face was red, like the colour of a fall maple leaf.

"Steve, are you all right?" Sylvie asked, swimming back towards him. She was about to step up out of the water when Steve sprung back in to action.

"Don't get out!" He yelled.

"Is something wrong?"

Steve sputtered, his face getting brighter as the red crept down his neck. Sylvie gasped in realization, "Steve, did I make you uncomfortable?"

He shook his head, but he still hadn't said anything.

"It's just skin, Steve," Sylvie said as she rushed towards him. Steve's head immediately turned upwards to look at the sky. Sylvie pulled at the hem of his shirt, "You have skin, too."

"Nuh-uh," Steve shook his head, "Nope." And without another word he turned and went back in to the cabin.

Strange man, Sylvie thought to herself.

-X-X-X-

It was hours later that Steve decided to venture outside of the cabin again. Sylvie was now, still naked, sunning herself next to the water, only this time she had about a dozen otters accompanying her, all lying on their backs, eyes closed, paws in the air above them. Steve had to admit that she looked like a goddess lying there in the sunshine. Her golden skin reflected the sunlight and her deep brown hair fanned out around her, interlacing with the surrounding blades of grass. His heart raced at the sight of her, and all he really wanted to do was continue to stare at her, but he knew it was wrong, and so he kept his eyes diverted as he walked out towards her.

"Would you mind getting dressed, Sylvie?" He asked shyly.

"If it'll make you feel better, of course," Sylvie immediately replied, pulling her previous shirt over her head.

Steve sighed and sat next to her, the otters scattering as he did so.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier," he said, now looking her in the eyes, although still quite awkwardly. "It's just that I was raised to believe that a man and a woman should only see each other in that way when they're married."

Sylvie shrugged, "It's okay Steve. I'll try to keep the nudity to a minimum while you're around."

"Thanks."

"Unless you wanna get married, of course." Once again Steve's face blushed and Sylvie giggled, "I'm only kidding. Sort of."

Steve shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "You know, I thought I'd be married and dead by now."

Sylvie sighed, "Did you leave someone behind, too?"

"A few people, actually."

"Tell me about them," she said, leaning her head against his massive shoulder and staring out over the lake, watching as the sun made it's slow crawl across the sky, getting closer and closer to the horizon.

"Well, I didn't leave a parent behind. My dad died during the First World War, mustard gas. And my mother died of tuberculosis when I was eighteen." Steve sighed, "My oldest friend was Bucky. You met him, though you don't remember. I was so jealous when he got to go off and fight in the war, and in my father's old unit, no less."

"But then you did get to fight in the war," Sylvie pointed out.

Steve nodded, "It was a long road, though."

"Dr. Harper said something about a serum?"

"Yeah, I tried enlisting so many times until Dr. Erskine found me. He gave me a chance. So I got sent for basic training at Camp Lehigh in New Jersey. And that's where I met Peggy Carter."

The way Steve said her name Sylvie knew she'd been special to him. She wanted to ask but didn't want to hurt him.

"She was something else. First time I met her she punched one of the recruits, a real jerk, right in the mouth."

Sylvie giggled, "Sounds like my kind of girl."

"I never got to tell her I loved her."

Sylvie placed her hand on Steve's arm in what she hoped was a comforting way, "I'm sure she knew."

"I hope you're right."

They sat in silence for a while. Sylvie didn't want to push Steve to talk. Clearly he had had quite a lot to live for, more than Sylvie had, at least. It was when the sun had finally reached the horizon that Steve spoke again.

"Bucky talked about you quite a bit, you know," he said lightly.

"Really?" Sylvie blushed, although she wasn't sure why, she didn't even remember the guy.

"Said you were the strangest woman he'd ever met."

"Oh."

"And the most amazing woman he'd ever met."

Sylvie's blush deepened. "How so?"

"He told me that you watched him a lot; after he was taken captive in Austria."

"That just sounds creepy," Sylvie mumbled.

"He thought it was flattering," Steve laughed softly, "Always did have an ego, that guy. He also told me you saved his life."

Sylvie felt a fluttering in her chest. At least she did something right.

"A guard beat him, almost killed him. When you found out you lured the guard in to his cell, which also held a few other prisoners. You got Bucky out of the cell, and locked the guard in. The other prisoners killed him. Then you nursed Bucky back to health."

"I wonder why I took such an interest in him."

"He was a good-looking guy."

"So are you, but you don't see me staring at you all the time. Well, not really."

Steve shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is that Bucky came to with you washing the blood off him, and you kept him comfortable, snuck him extra food; lots of apples, he said. He tried to talk to you, but apparently you weren't very talkative. So he talked, he had a big mouth, too." Steve chuckled, "Then I guess Schmidt found out, had you whipped, and that's why they were experimenting on Buck when I found him."

"It was my fault he got experimented on?" Sylvie gasped, pushing herself away from Steve.

"It wasn't your fault," Steve assured her. "They were bad men, who did bad things."

"But I worked for them. I must have been a bad person, too."

"No," Steve shook his head, "Bucky said you were the kindest person he'd ever met. I think Schmidt was controlling you somehow."

"How?"

"I don't know. But when I came to rescue Bucky, you helped me get him out. He begged you to come with us, but we were stopped by Schmidt, and he had some sort of device that he threatened you with. And I think I have a theory about what the device did."

Steve stood, pulling Sylvie up with him and led her into the cabin. He stopped in front of a small black box with a glass front. Steve pushed a button on the side of the box and a high-pitched humming, or a buzzing noise was emitted. Sylvie placed her hands over her ears quickly.

"Electricity," Steve said, "You're sensitive to electricity."

"But we had electricity when I was a kid."

"Yes, but not like now." Steve pressed the button again and the sound went away as the glass turned back to black. "Literally everything is run by electricity now, it's amazing. I think that's why you were so uncomfortable in the city. The amount of electricity being used now far surpasses what would have been used in France in 1925. You're just not used to it. And I think Schmidt figured that out somehow and used it against you."

"Makes sense, I guess," Sylvie said, returning to her spot beside the lake.

"Maybe there was something else, who knows. But you're the only one who can know that now."

"What ever happened to Bucky?" Sylvie asked.

"He fell thousands of feet from a moving train in the Austrian Alps. His body was never found."

Sylvie's chest tightened. She didn't know why she felt so sad, she didn't remember him, but her heart hurt all the same.

"Damn Austria," she whispered, leaning her head against Steve's shoulder again and watched as the sun sank below the horizon.

-X-X-X-

Putain, c'est quoi ce bordel? - What the fuck?


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the story begins to unfold...

April 28, 2012

Sylvie didn't know what to make of the tiny house Agent Hill, Director Fury, and Steve had taken her to. She was extremely grateful to them for all their help; S.H.I.E.L.D. had bought a park, she was told, and constructed this little house with as little electricity as possible and had planted as many trees around it as possible, but it was still inside the city of New York. The trees would suck up most of the pollution before it entered the house, but what would happen in the winter, when the leaves fell. Sylvie could ask plants to grow for her, but no more than they were physically capable of doing on their own, she couldn't make a daffodil grow to six feet, and certainly not in frozen ground. However she did understand S.H.I.E.L.D.'s desire to keep her close.

"You're only a few blocks away from Captain Rogers," Fury informed her, leading her up the stone path, pulling a key out of his pocket.

Steve pulled a small shiny device out of his jacket pocket and held it out to Sylvie, "They tell me this is a phone. There's one for you, my number is on speed dial."

Sylvie shook her head. "I don't need that."

"How will I know if you need me?"

"The wind will let you know."

"How do I get ahold of you?"

"The wind will let me know."

Steve smiled politely and Sylvie could tell he was trying to believe her. She saw Fury roll his eyes out of the corner of her eye. She understood it was hard for people to believe, sometimes it was hard for her to believe.

"All right," Steve conceded, shaking his head a bit, "But please let me know if you need me. Even if it's just because you're lonely."

Sylvie threw her head back and laughed, "Lonely? Steve, I can talk to animals! I'll never be lonely. It's [i]you[/i] that shouldn't hesitate to come over if you're lonely."

Steve smiled and nodded, "I guess you're right."

"Here's your key," Fury said, holding the thick grey key out to her.

She looked at it for a moment, wondering what kind of strange materials it was made of. Everything in this day and age seemed to be partly or fully fake materials.

"It's made of brass," Fury said irritably.

Sylvie quickly snatched the key out of his hand before he decided it would just be easier to lock her up.

"Thank you," she smiled, "Honestly. You didn't have to be so kind to me."

"No, I didn't," Fury agreed.

Steve gave her a small smile and kissed her cheek before the three of them walked back down the stone path and climbed into the giant, shiny, black vehicle, which she had been informed was called an SUV. Sylvie unlocked the door and walked in to find a very quaintly-decorated living room, nothing like the ornate rooms her mother used to redecorate with each season; there was a brown couch and a coffee table and bookcase made of pine. The bookcase was full of books, mostly on history, for her to read, and a record player sat in the front corner next to a window-seat. The record player, she was ensured, used very little electricity, so she had agreed to having one, she used to love listening to music with her mother.

Venturing further in to the house she found a small kitchen; for what she wasn't sure, as she had yet to accept any of their food, choosing to eat the raw fruits and vegetables she grew herself. Down a hallway to her right was a bathroom with a deep tub and a shower head as well as a sink and toilet. She supposed she may use the room from time to time, but not often. Across the hall from that was a bedroom with a large, rather luxurious bed dressed in light green. It did look comfortable, Sylvie conceded to herself, but again she wasn't likely to use it much.

Once she had inspected the house fully, Sylvie threw open all the doors and windows, allowing the wind to blow playfully through the thin white drapes. It took more of her concentration, but Sylvie held her hands out, calling to the Earth and to the plants, and slowly she began to sense their growth. The trees surrounding the property grew to their full height, the flowers planted in the garden out front bloomed bright. And after that, vines grew from the edges of the house, climbing the siding until the house was encased, slightly covering over the windows and doors and even crawling into the house itself to greet Sylvie warmly.

-X-X-X-

April 29, 2012

The next day Steve showed up. Sylvie was warned by the wind when he left his apartment, giving her time to dress. She figured now that she was alone most of the time, she could be as naked as she wanted. Steve stopped at the end of the property and then looked around, as if he was double checking that he was in the right place. He didn't step forward until he felt a push on the back of his legs. He looked down to find a tabby cat gently nudging him. It mewed at him in a most irritated fashion, not that he could really tell.

Steve walked up the stone path, now overgrown with grass and flowers, and walked up the few steps to the door; or at least the space that there should have been a door. Instead he was greeted by a wall of vines, which gradually moved aside to reveal the open doorway. He took a cautious step forward and stared around at the various plants that had settled themselves inside the small homestead, along with various animals; cats, birds, a squirrel flitted quickly in to a shadow.

"Good morning Steve," Sylvie said in a cheery voice, appearing at the end of the hallway. "How are you?"

"Fine, thanks," Steve nodded and then gestured with his hands around the room, "I like what you've done with the place."

Sylvie shrugged playfully, "I couldn't stand having them all locked out."

"You aren't afraid of someone coming in to your house, though?"

"Steve, no one gets in or out of here without my knowledge or approval," she giggled. "What brings you by?"

"Well, I've been thinking about your predicament with electricity."

Sylvie nodded, urging him on. She went to sit at the window and Steve took a seat on the couch.

"I was thinking we could try to build up your tolerance. You can't stay in here for the rest of your life."

"Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"How about we go for a walk? Start small, and see if we can get you out there longer each time."

Sylvie thought for a moment. It made sense to get out of her little haven. She'd never meet anyone if she never ventured out. But the headaches were terrible, and left her feeling weak. Her mother wouldn't want her to be a recluse, though. Her mother loved meeting new people, loved social events. And Sylvie could tell that Steve needed a distraction.

"All right," she finally answered, "I'll never know if I don't try, right?"

"That's the spirit," Steve said, jumping up from the couch.

Sylvie slipped on a pair of cork sandals and followed Steve outside.

"Aren't you going to lock up, or something?" he asked, pausing in the doorway as Sylvie continued up the path.

Sylvie rolled her eyes, "Steve, no matter how far away I am, no one and no thing is going to get in that house without my knowledge or approval."

Steve followed Sylvie down the stone path and caught up to her after she'd turned right at the end of the property, following the sidewalk.

"How do you know that?"

"Because they won't let anything in."

"They?"

"The plants and animals. They are all devout friends of mine and would never let anyone near that I wasn't okay with having there. They will stop anyone from getting near there and the wind will warn me beforehand that they're coming. I knew the second you left your apartment today."

"Do you always have the wind following me?"

"I don't make the wind follow you," she giggled lightly, "It's always around, everything. It just warned me that you were coming over."

"That's actually pretty cool."

Sylvie smiled cheekily at him and they continued to walk. It took a few minutes before Sylvie began to feel the humming intensifying in her head.

"How are you doing?" Steve asked when he noticed the uncomfortable look on her face.

"It's starting to affect me, but nothing I can't handle yet."

"Well don't let the pain intensify too much, I don't want to have to carry you back. I'm afraid I might get mauled by your friends."

Sylvie chuckled, "They wouldn't maul you."

"If you say so," Steve smiled.

He had a really great smile, Sylvie thought to herself but didn't voice, she didn't want to make Steve uncomfortable, which happened quite easily, she'd found out during their week together at the Retreat.

-X-X-X-

May 1, 2012

Sylvie sat in her back yard, surrounded by her plant and animal friends, a blazing fire in front of her. Today should have been a special day. It was the day of her birth, and Beltane. She used to spend the day with her mother in the garden as the plants and flowers bloomed. They would eat sweets and giggle together and at night they would make a fire, and all the animals would come to pay their respects, and her mother would allow her to taste of the sweet nectar of the grapes. Sylvie fingered the red jewel at her throat, and wished that her mother could be there then. As accompanied as she was, by deer and birds and cats and various other species, she had never felt more alone.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday when I came by earlier?" Steve's voice suddenly said from behind her.

Sylvie's head whirled around to see Steve standing sheepishly at the back door of the house, a box of chocolates and a bottle of French wine in his hand. Sylvie quickly reached out for the white, cotton robe she kept nearby, just in case, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Thanks so much for warning me, Wind," she muttered.

"It's not the wind's fault," Steve chuckled, "I told it not to tell you I was coming."

"You spoke to the wind?" Sylvie smiled, amused.

Steve laughed a little harder, "It was the weirdest thing I've ever done. I was sitting at home, reading and then all of a sudden I heard a whisper. It was the wind, telling me that it was your birthday. Bring wine and chocolate."

Sylvie laughed, a full body laugh that reverberated through her, "Of course it did."

Steve sat himself down next to her in front of the fire and opened the bottle of wine, passing her the box of chocolates.

"Thank you, Steve," she smiled, accepting the gifts.

"See, I told you you'd get lonely."

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for being here."

Steve wrapped his arm around her, "Happy birthday, Sylvie."

-X-X-X-

May 3, 2012

Every day Steve came by to accompany Sylvie on a walk. Each day they walked farther. Each day Sylvie grew stronger. They began visiting various flea markets, which greatly interested Sylvie who had begun collecting books and trinkets. Their friendship was an easy one, Sylvie realized, even with all their differences they spoke easily to each other. They may have come from different places but as far as Steve was concerned, she was his only connection left to his life in the 1940's. They found solace in each other.

However on that day, when Steve came to get her, his face was not that of her friend, easygoing and teasing; it was the face of a soldier.

"How far do you think you can get today?" He asked her.

"How far do you need me to go?"

"Far."

Sylvie took a deep breath. She'd started walking by herself at times, she still never slept and there were only so many hours she could spend reading or conversing with the animals. She'd also been thinking about how she could walk farther, perhaps dirt in her pockets would help. Maybe carry a plant with her. So Sylvie told Steve to wait a moment as she grabbed a denim jacket and filled the pockets with dirt. She also placed a few seeds in the dirt, just to be sure. Steve watched as she did all this without saying a word, he'd gotten used to the strange things Sylvie did now and then. She slipped on a pair of white sneakers, she was told they were vegan, whatever that meant, and followed Steve's lead.

Less than an hour later they were being escorted on to an air craft by an Agent Phil Coulson. He shook her hand and greeted her politely. Sylvie felt the dirt in her pocket and took a deep, calming breath before following him on to the aircraft. She stayed by Steve's side as he was handed a shiny device, similar to the phone Steve had shown her before, only a little larger. On the drive over Steve had informed her of everything Fury had told him, about the Hulk and Iron Man and Thor and Loki and the Tesseract, how Loki and Thor were from a completely other planet. Sylvie couldn't even fathom that there were beings on other planets, let alone that they were now trying to take over the world. She was surprised that Fury had allowed Steve to bring her with him, she didn't think he trusted her very much. But Steve said Fury hadn't fought him at all.

The device Steve was holding was playing a video. A large green man? was fighting against an army with huge weaponry at a beautiful large brick building.

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" He asked Coulson.

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula," Coulson answered.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?"

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking."

Steve and Sylvie both looked at Coulson, what was a Stephen Hawking?

"He's like a smart person."

"So, this is the guy that built the Retreat, right?" Sylvie asked.

"How do you know that?" Coulson asked.

"Don't ask," Steve said and Coulson shrugged.

"I gotta say, it's an honour to meet you, officially," Coulson smiled at Steve. "I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."

Even Sylvie knew that sounded weird. Steve looked down and turned off the device. He stood and walked to the other side of the aircraft looking up towards the front. Coulson followed him.

"I mean, I was, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a, just a huge honour to have you on board."

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job."

Sylvie rolled her eyes. As far as she could tell, Steve was the man for any job.

"Oh, you are," Coulson assured him, "Absolutely. Uh, we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

"The uniform? Aren't stars and stripes a little -" Steve paused, searching for a word, "Old fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned."

What felt like hours to Sylvie but was only forty minutes later, they landed on a ship, on the ocean. Oh great, Sylvie thought, still not on land. She wondered if she could get the same energy from the water as she did from the Earth. She felt the dirt in her pocket again. There was a slight humming in her head but it eased up each time she put her hand in her pocket. When they stepped off they were greeted by the same redheaded woman that Sylvie had first met. She looked like walking sex, Sylvie thought wickedly.

"Agent Romanoff," Coulson greeted and then gestured towards Steve and Sylvie, "Captain Rogers. Sylvie De La Mer."

"Ma'am," Steve said.

"Hi," Agent Romanoff greeted them and then looked to Coulson, "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace."

"See you there," Coulson left and Agent Romanoff led Sylvie and Steve away from the jet.

"There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." Sylvie assumed Agent Romanoff was talking solely to Steve, she didn't think anyone cared about her coming out of the ice. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage, he's very proud."

The ship was teeming with personnel. The long grey craft was packed with other jets like the one they'd arrived in. Men and women in uniform constantly checking and rechecking each piece of equipment to make sure they were in good condition. Sylvie saw him before Steve. She recognized him from the image the oak cabin had given her. He was wearing a purple shirt that complimented his tanned skin very well and a sensible black blazer. He looked extremely nervous, and after seeing the video, she could understand why. He was attempting to dodge the many personnel who were constantly rushing back and forth. He was even better looking in person.

"Banner," Sylvie called out, rushing forward to get a good look at him, circling him with a smile.

He turned around with her, keeping her in his line of sight. Bruce wrung his hands together nervously, his mouth falling open in awe. She liked what she saw even better up close. His black hair was streaked with just the slightest amount of grey. He was taller than Sylvie, but not by much, and underneath his crisp button-down she could tell that he had nicely defined muscles.

"Dr. Banner," Steve greeted, pulling Bruce's attention away from Sylvie.

Bruce shook Steve's hand, "Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming."

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about."

Banner nodded thankfully and then motioned to the goings-on around them, "Must be strange for you, all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Steve smirked.

"Gentlemen, Miss De La Mer," Agent Romanoff interrupted, "you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."

The craft began to shake. A voice bellowed out from various speakers, "Flight crew, secure the deck."

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

"Really?" Banner said nervously, "They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

Steve, Banner, and Sylvie moved closer to the edge. They watched as four huge lift fans mounted on the sides of the craft started to lift in the air. Steve watched in awe, Sylvie shoved her hands in her pockets, and Banner smiled nervously.

"No, no. This is much worse," he sneered sarcastically.

They quickly followed Romanoff inside and a set of doors parted to reveal the bridge of the ship. Dozens of agents were sitting in front of screens. Agent Hill shouted instructions and Director Fury was standing at what looked to be a command centre. Each step inside made Sylvie more nervous. Not only was the place full of electric energy, but the volume of noise as agents yelled back and forth to each other was more than she was used to. Trees didn't tend to yell.

"All engines operating. S.H.I.E.L.D. Emergency Protocol 193.6 in effect. We're at level, sir," Agent Hill said.

"Good. Let's vanish," Fury replied.

"Engage retro-reflection panels."

"Gentlemen," Fury called in greeting, "Miss De La Mer."

Steve, attention completely held by the wonders of modern technology, strode forward, handed Fury a ten dollar bill, and then continued forward to stare out the mass of windows. Fury took it with a smirk and then approached Bruce, extending his hand. Sylvie remained by Bruce's side, feeling just as nervous as he did, her hands buried deeply in her pockets.

"Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear."

"Where are you with that?" Bruce asked and Fury motioned towards Coulson standing in a pit to their left. Romanoff was a few feet away, looking at a picture of a man with short-cropped blond hair and a serious expression.

Coulson spoke up, "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time," Romanoff said.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asked, removing his jacket, and suddenly he went from nervous to confident right before Sylvie's eyes. He was spectacular, she thought, feeling a familiar tightening in her stomach.

"How many are there?" Fury asked.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays, I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

Romanoff nodded and led Banner down a hall, leaving Sylvie alone amongst a sea of strangers.

-X-X-X-

Sylvie felt quite uncomfortable as they waited for Bruce to locate the Tesseract. She continued to sift the dirt in her pockets between her fingers, double checking that her seeds were still there in case she might need them. The humming noise had begun to intensify and she was trying not to show Steve how affected she was. She wanted to be strong for him, she could tell he was in his element, on a mission. But she didn't think they needed her there, she wasn't a soldier like Steve, or a scientist like Bruce. She didn't have any kind of training to speak of as far as she was concerned, despite what Fury thought.

On top of that, no one seemed to care that she was there. That, or they didn't want to acknowledge her because they didn't trust her. By now most of the agents would have heard of her strange tendencies, and no doubt some would be frightened by her. Coulson was the only one who came close to her, and that was only because of Steve. Coulson asked Steve if he could sign his Captain America trading cards, just as Natasha had predicted.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no," Steve said, "It's fine."

"It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but-"

"We got a hit," an agent announced, interrupting, "Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross match, seventy-nine percent."

"Location?" Coulson asked, transitioning back in to agent-mode.

Out of curiosity Sylvie approached the screen where there was an image of a tall, slender man with long black hair in a crisp black suit and long black jacket. He, too, was extremely good looking. Why did all these men have to be so scrumptious, Sylvie wondered, it was making it difficult to concentrate.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain, you're up," Fury defected to Steve.

Steve nodded. With a look he asked Sylvie to come along and she dutifully followed. Getting off this airship would be great, no matter how useless she might be.

-X-X-X-

Sylvie couldn't help but stare at Steve as they flew towards Germany, Natasha Romanoff piloting the small jet. Steve was dressed in a tight red, white, and blue suit. It was extremely tight, Sylvie noticed, and bright, and somehow still extremely sexy. There had also been a black suit available for her, similar to what Natasha wore, but Sylvie had refused, opting to stick with her denim.

"Looking good, Steve," Sylvie winked, causing Steve to blush. Sometimes she couldn't help it, she enjoyed making Steve blush.

To prepare herself for a possible fight, Sylvie sifted the dirt in her pockets through her fingers again and then asked the vines to grow and wind themselves around her arms. Having them there reassured her and helped her to focus.

"Sylvie, I'm going in alone. Stay with Natasha in the jet."

Sylvie nodded, slightly annoyed that she wouldn't be able to touch the ground yet. When they came upon Loki in Germany he was dressed in stunning gold, green, and black armor, a massive horned helmet atop his head. He was breathtakingly gorgeous, Sylvie admitted and again she felt a tightening in her stomach. As beautiful as he was, he was also evil, at least that's what they told her. He currently had a large group of people kneeling on the ground before him, his staff held aloft. All but one stood, an elderly man, and from what they could tell, he was about to be used as a martyr.

Steve dropped from the quinjet just as Loki sent a bolt of blue light aimed at the old man. The blue light bounced off Steve's shield and hit Loki directly in the stomach, causing him to crumple to the ground. Steve stood, tall and proud. Loki reared his head up, a look of pure hatred on his face.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing," Steve said cooly.

Loki stood, "The soldier. A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

Natasha flew the quinjet down behind Steve, disabling the shielding and pointed a machine gun at Loki.

"Loki," her voice rang out through a set of speakers, "Drop the weapon and stand down."

With quick reflexes Loki shot a blast of blue light at the quinjet. With equal speed Natasha maneuvered out of the way and Steve took his chance to throw his shield at Loki. It bounced off Loki's shield and Steve rushed forward to punch him in the face. It barely seemed to faze Loki who hadn't even stumbled. Loki countered by attacking Steve with his staff and Steve flew back several yards, rolling quickly to his feet. Again, Steve threw his shield and Loki batted it away. Sylvie watched, wanting to help but not knowing what to do, Steve was being thrown around as if he were a child. Finally Loki had Steve on his knees and the tip of his staff on his helmet.

"Kneel," Loki demanded.

Sylvie shifted uneasily next to Natasha, "Is it bad that he kinda makes me horny?"

Natasha gave her a momentary scalding look before she corrected herself and smirked, "Which one?"

No one else would have caught the original emotion in Natasha's eyes, the hatred that had rested there for a mere moment before her usual easy facade overtook, but Sylvie did.

"Not today!" Steve grabbed the end of the staff to pull himself up and to put Loki off balance. He then kicked Loki in the head but again Loki grabbed Steve and threw him away.

Sylvie dropped from the quinjet, rushing forward. "Stop!" she cried and before she knew what had happened her vines had shot forward to hit Loki, sending him back a few feet. She rushed to Steve's side, not noticing the look of awe on Loki's face. Before she could reach Steve the quinjet's speakers began to blast loud, obnoxious noise. Sylvie recognized it as something people called music these days. What the hell was Natasha doing? Then a red and gold man in a metal suit flew in and blasted Loki with gold light, sending him flying back.

Iron Man, Tony Stark, stood and several guns emerged from his suit to point at Loki who was sprawled against the staircase.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games," Tony said, and Steve and Sylvie joined him in front of Loki.

Loki raised his hands in surrender, his armor dematerializing. Sylvie felt heat rushing through her body. This close up, he was gorgeous with or without the armour.

"Good move," Tony said, reigning in his weaponry.

"Mr. Stark," Steve greeted.

"Captain," Tony said tightly.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is very much going to be the plot of Avengers until I get passed that and then it will be all original content, so just bare with me for three chapters.

Sylvie was once again annoyed, and frustrated, to find out that beneath the Iron Man suit, Tony Stark was another wonderfully delectable man himself. She was still buzzing with adrenaline from the fight, causing her skin to feel all hot and tingly. As Natasha flew the quinjet back towards the hellicarrier, Steve and Tony were standing together at the back of the jet. Loki was seated on the bench across from her. He had yet to say a word, all he did was stare at Sylvie with a maddening smirk, which did nothing to help alleviate the heat building inside of her. She reached up to touch the jewel at her neck, feeling the comforting heat.

"Is he saying anything?" Fury's voice asked over the communications system.

"Not a word," Natasha replied.

"Just get him here. We're low on time."

His eyes sparkled as he stared at her neck and Sylvie wanted to both slap him and climb him. Why was she feeling this way? Every nerve ending in her body felt as if they were on fire.

"I don't like it," Steve muttered.

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony retorted. It was true, Loki had surrendered far too easily. He hadn't even broken a sweat fighting against Steve.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing, Pilates?"

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, doing time as a Capsicle."

Sylvie snorted and smiled, "I like that. Like an icicle."

"No, like a Popsicle," Tony sighed.

"What's a Popsicle?"

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Steve interrupted.

"Yeah. There's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony said stiffly and Sylvie rolled her eyes. Men and their egos.

Lightning flashed outside and Sylvie gulped. She'd never been a fan of lightning. Subconsciously the vines began to grow up her arms again.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha wondered, trying to peer through the thick cloud coverage that had appeared.

Even Loki looked nervous about the suddenly brewing storm.

"What's the matter? Are you scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked him.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," he replied in a voice as smooth as silk and as decadent as velvet that had Sylvie clenching her thighs.

The storm continued to grow, lightning nearly hitting the jet on numerous occasions. The pressure continued to build inside Sylvie's head with each strike. Loki watched her with what looked like concern.

"Are you all right?" he whispered.

Sylvie had been about to reply when there came a loud thud on the roof of the jet. Loki's attention was immediately pulled upwards, along with everyone else's. Tony and Steve secured their helmets back over their heads. Tony strode purposefully to the back of the jet, slamming his hand over the button to open the hatch.

"What are you doing?" Steve yelled over the noise of the wind.

Before Tony could respond, or leave, Thor landed inside the jet, red cape flowing behind him. Sylvie groaned, he was definitely fit to be called a god, with his red and silver armour and massive arms. Thor strode forward, Tony brought his hand up to aim, and Thor hurled him away with one swipe of his hammer. He grabbed Loki by the collar and without a word leapt out of the jet. What the hell? Tony stood up, sighing.

"And now there's that guy."

"Yeah," Sylvie agreed, "There are way too many guys."

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.

"That guys a friendly?" Steve exclaimed.

"Apparently," Sylvie said.

"Doesn't matter," Tony stated, "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

Tony turned to leave and Steve called out, "Stark! We need a plan of attack."

"I have a plan," Tony said smugly, "Attack."

Tony flew out of the jet causing Steve and Sylvie to both sigh and roll their eyes.

"Ready?" Steve asked her, grabbing a parachute.

Sylvie nodded and Steve strapped himself in, pulling her against him.

"I'd sit this one out," Natasha called out to them.

"I don't see how I can," Steve replied.

"These guys come from legend. They're basically gods."

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

Steve picked up his shield, Sylvie grabbed onto his mid-section tightly, her vines snaking out to fasten onto him, and then they were falling through the air. They caught sight of Loki, sitting on a rock ledge watching Thor and Tony fight with a bored expression. They angled themselves to land before him. Steve quickly removed the parachute, looking between Loki, and Thor and Tony's fight.

"Go," Sylvie urged, "I'll watch him."

Steve nodded and raced off towards the fighting duo. Sylvie turned back towards Loki to see him once again smirking. Why had he stayed? Surely he could have gotten away by now. Sylvie took a seat a few feet from him, digging her fingers in to the ground. She breathed a deep, calming, strengthening breath.

" _The lady Sylvie,"_ Loki all but purred, in perfect French, deep in his throat, sending a shiver creeping down her spine. _"How delicious."_

 _"Have we met? "_ Sylvie asked.

 _"No,"_ Loki replied, still smirking.

 _"Stop smirking,"_ Sylvie huffed but that only made Loki laugh.

_"You're just like her."_

Sylvie whipped her head around to stare at Loki.  _"Who?"_

But Sylvie never got an answer. There was a sudden bolt of lightning and then a wave of energy went pulsing out from where Steve, Tony, and Thor had just been, sending dirt and trees flying through the air and blasting electrified air over her and Loki. Sylvie felt the currents racing through her nerve endings, scalding her to the core.

She panicked, feeling strong leather restraints binding her legs and arms down. Her entire body screamed, she was dressed in leather as well and she could feel the weakening effects of it. Johann Schmidt stood tall in front of her, an expression of rage on his completely red, skull-like face. Sylvie tried to fight against her restraints to no avail. He laughed at her; a deep, sadistic chuckle that sent disgusted shivers crawling down her spine. Sylvie felt the urge to vomit.

 _"You're becoming difficult to handle, my dear,"_ the man spoke in German as he strapped another piece of leather over her head, clasping it underneath her chin to keep her jaw tight.

Sylvie attempted to shake her head free only to receive a stinging slap across the cheek. A chunk of wood was forced into her mouth and her teeth instinctively clenched on to it. Tears poured from her eyes. Please, don't, she wanted to beg. She'd seen what this machine had done to people already. It's not ready, she wanted to scream. He said it wasn't ready yet! But the man didn't hear her pleas, ignored her muffled cries and her tears. Without so much as a glance in her direction he moved over to the switch and pulled it down. Sylvie's entire body convulsed violently as the waves of electricity shocked her every nerve and cell. And then the darkness came.

Sylvie came to flat on her back on the ground, Loki hovering above her. He statuesque face held a look of deep concern. He helped her to sit up, "Are you all right?"

Sylvie nodded, and shook off the disturbing memory. She knew what that machine was, somewhere in the back of her mind, but couldn't quite remember what. "I don't much like electricity."

"That would be Thor, showing off," Loki muttered with a disapproving scowl.

Sylvie stood, watching as Thor, Steve, and Tony made their way back to them. Thor rushed forward to kneel on one knee, and took her hand in his.

"Lady Sylvie, it is an honour to make your acquaintance," his deep voice rumbled and Sylvie's disturbing memory faded to the back of her mind.

She turned to smirk cheekily at Loki, "I can see why you like this kneeling thing."

Loki returned her smirk with one of equal amusement. Sylvie placed her attention back on Thor.

"Do we know each other?"

Thor didn't answer, but he stood back up, "I apologize if I frightened you at all, my Lady. I only wished to bring Loki back to Asgard to face Asgardian justice."

"Forgiven, just please don't hit me with your lightning again."

Steve straightened, immediately alert, "He struck you with his lightning?"

Sylvie shrugged, "It was that large pulse of energy."

"Forgive me, that was a side effect of Mjolnir coming in to contact with his shield."

"Are you all right?" Steve asked, rushing forward to spin her around and inspect her.

Loki watched them with great interest. Sylvie shrugged Steve's hands away, "Steve, I'm fine. Honestly. It only hurt for a second."

Sylvie was saved from Steve's clutches as Natasha landed the quinjet nearby. Before he could ask her again if she was all right Sylvie grabbed Loki by the arm and hauled him in to the jet. As soon as they arrived back at the helicarrier they were surrounded by heavily-armed agents. Loki's hands were bound behind him and he was 'escorted' by the agents while Natasha took Steve, Sylvie, and Thor to a conference table near the flight deck, where they sat in order to watch Fury speak with Loki. They each looked down at screens that appeared on the table before them. Bruce joined them a moment later.

"In case it's unclear," Fury's voice rang out over the speakers as he stepped towards the cage's security system. "If you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass, it's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap."

Sylvie watched as Loki stared down in to the black abyss beneath him. But she had the distinct feeling that he wasn't frightened by the possible fall in the slightest. Surely a fall like that would kill even a being as strong as him.

"You get how that works?" Fury asked rhetorically. He pointed to Loki, "Ant," and then back to the control panel, "Boot."

Loki grinned, wide and appreciative, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard," Loki stared directly in to the camera, "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man."

Natasha, Steve, and Sylvie looked towards Bruce, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't seem to be too bothered by the sentiment, but Sylvie didn't know him well enough. Either way she wanted to comfort him, preferably without clothing.

"How desperate are you," Loki continued to sneer, "that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all man kind to share. And then to be reminded of what real power is."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine, or something," Fury retorted sarcastically, leaving Loki to stew alone.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce chuckled.

Cute, smart, and funny. Sylvie liked him, she liked him a lot.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve said. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," Thor answered, "They are not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army," Steve sighed, "from outer space."

Sylvie couldn't help but giggle. The entire situation just seemed so ridiculous. Natasha turned a deathly glare on her, which unfortunately for her, only made Sylvie giggle more. Thor looked at her fondly.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping her eyes, "But you have to admit that this whole situation is pretty ridiculous."

Ignoring her, Bruce continued, "So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha informed him, "along with one of ours."

"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Steve said. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him."

Sylvie's brow furrowed in confusion and muttered to herself, "Cats aren't crazy."

"Have care how you speak," Thor warned in a low voice, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed 80 people in two days," Natasha said stiffly.

"He's adopted," Thor excused and Sylvie stifled another giggle, although not completely.

"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce interrupted, keeping them on track, "Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilising agent," Tony suddenly butted in, striding in to the room now wearing a crisp black suit, flanked by Agent Coulson. Without the Iron Man suit he was shorter than Sylvie, but no less sexy. He carried himself with ease and confidence. Without missing a step he turned towards Coulson, "I'm just saying, pick a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive."

Coulson nodded respectfully and distanced himself from Tony.

"It means the portal won't collapse on itself," Tony reiterated, "like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. No hard feelings, Point Break, you've got a mean swing," he said, tapping Thor on the arm. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants."

Tony paced around them until he was looking over the flight deck. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." The crew looked at him in bemusement. "That man is playing Galaga." Tony announced. Steve and Sylvie shared confused looks of their own. Boy, could this man talk. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Tony looked around at the computers surrounding him, and then covered one eye. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns," Agent Hill replied.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily." Tony continued to stare at the computers, tapping their screens every so often, "The only major component he still needs is a power-source of high-energy density." Tony touched the side of one of the computers in a way that Sylvie thought was conspicuous, but no one else noticed. "Something to kick-start the Cube."

He's also very fidgety, Sylvie noted. Still very delicious, despite all that.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked skeptically.

"Last night." He was rewarded with blank and confused looks, "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce answered, pacing behind Steve.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunneling effect," Tony said, slowly making his way towards Bruce.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Sylvie asked.

Tony shook Bruce's hand energetically, "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster."

"Thanks," Bruce nodded his head awkwardly.

Fury entered the room, "Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him."

"I would start with that stick of his," Steve said. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that," Fury said, "But it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asked, "I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve and Sylvie pointed out emphatically, smiling at each other. "We understood that reference."

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asked Bruce who nodded.

"This way, sir."

Steve and Sylvie stayed behind for a few minutes to discuss who would interrogate Loki. Sylvie found that she desperately wanted to speak to him. Thor, also, for that matter. Both of the brothers seemed to know who she was, despite them both being from another planet, not to mention the fact that she'd been frozen in ice for almost 70 years. However Fury decided that Natasha would be the one to speak to him. So Steve and Sylvie made their way to the lab, perhaps they'd be of use there. It was just as they entered that Tony prodded Bruce with some sort of small needle. Sylvie heard the electrical zap from the doorway and cringed. Bruce didn't seem fazed by it, though. Steve was.

"Hey!" He yelled at Tony, "Are you nuts?"

"Jury's out." Tony replied, not taking his eyes off of Bruce, who simply smiled and shook his head. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked.

"Funny things are." Tony pointed a sharp object in Steve's direction nonchalantly.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc."

"It's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

Ignoring Steve and Tony's egotistical argument, Sylvie moved closer to Bruce, watching over his arm as he typed information in to a computer. She very much enjoyed watching him, he was so focused when it came to his work.

"You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut," Tony said to Bruce.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve stated.

"Don't worry about Steve," Sylvie whispered to Bruce, "He can be a bit strict some times."

Bruce looked over at her, his mouth hanging slightly open. He stared at her for a few seconds before shaking his head. He motioned towards Steve. "Are you two -?"

"Together?" Sylvie asked and Bruce nodded. Sylvie shrugged, "No. I tried, but no go."

Bruce blushed, "I can't imagine anyone saying no to you."

Sylvie smirked, running a finger up and down Bruce's arm. "I'll have to remember that."

"Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before?" Tony asked loudly, bringing Sylvie and Bruce's attentions back to him. "What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked.

"He's a spy, Captain. He's 'the' spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Tony suddenly asked Bruce.

Bruce waved his hands in the air nervously, "I just want to finish my work here, and -"

"Doctor?" Steve asked.

"Bruce?" Sylvie said, placing her hand on his arm, "We want your opinion."

Again he looked at her with that glazed eye look and then sighed, removing his glasses, "'A warm light for all mankind'. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."

"I heard it," Steve acknowledged.

"I think that was meant for you," Bruce pointed to Tony, who held his bag of snacks out until Bruce took some, "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower?" Sylvie asked, she'd seen it a few times on her walks.

"That big ugly," Steve chuckled, and then corrected himself upon receiving a scalding look from Tony, "building in New York?"

"It's powered by an arc reactor," Bruce continued, "a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

Tony nodded smugly, "It's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now, which I'm sure Poison Ivy over there can appreciate. That's what he's getting at."

"I'm not poisonous," Sylvie pointed out and Bruce gave her a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

"So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look in to that once my decryption program finishes breaking in to all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files," Tony said to himself, checking a small device in his pocket.

"I'm sorry, did you say -" Steve's morals kicked in to overdrive.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide," He held out his snack to Steve, "Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around."

Sylvie tuned out the next of Tony and Steve's ego battles and watched Bruce. He looked even better with his glasses off. His eyes remained completely focused on his work, watching Loki's sceptre diligently, taking notes, watching for changes.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed," Steve said, breaking Bruce's concentration on his computer and breaking Sylvie's concentration on Bruce's hands. "We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following's not really my style," Tony iterated.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?"

"Of the people in this room, which one is A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?"

"Steve, tell me none of this seems a little funky to you?" Sylvie asked.

"Just find the Cube," he said before leaving the room.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony said once Steve was out of earshot, "I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."

"The guy's not wrong about Loki," Bruce answered. "He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit. It's going to blow up in his face. And I'm going to be there when it does."

"Yeah," Bruce smiled, "I'll read all about it."

"Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us."

"You see, I don't get a suit of armour. I'm exposed. Like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it," he points to the circle lit up on his chest. "This little circle of light, it's part of me now, not just armour. It's a terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different."

"Hey, I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So, you're saying that the Hulk -" Bruce paused, smirking to himself, "The Other Guy saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll find out."

"You may not enjoy that."

"No, but I might," Sylvie smirked and Bruce blushed, hurriedly looking back at the screens in front of him.

"I like her," Tony smirked.


	5. Chapter Five

"So this Poison Ivy uses toxins from plants to incapacitate her enemies?" Sylvie confirmed with Tony and Bruce. They each nodded their heads, "You know, that's actually not a bad idea."

"Gosh, I'm really liking you," Tony said. "But get your feet off my desk."

"Sorry," Sylvie muttered, taking her bare feet off the desk Tony was working at. As soon as she'd decided to stay in the lab with Bruce and Tony she'd shed her shoes and jacket, leaving her in a thin white cotton button-up. "Do you think Fury could get me access to seeds from all around the world?"

"I don't see why not," Bruce answered, "He seems to have access to anything he wants."

"What kind of plants we talking here?" Tony asked.

"Oh there are several that can cause severe abdominal discomfort, seizures, and depending on the dose, death. _Cicuta maculata, atropa belladona, ricinus communis_."

"And you lost me," Tony said.

"Um, water hemlock, nightshade, and castor bean. All very poisonous if ingested. There is also the manchineel tree, whose sap, when touched, can cause severe blistering of the skin."

"How do you know so much about these plants?" Bruce asked curiously.

Sylvie shrugged, "I know of every plant and animal on this Earth. I always have."

"Tell me something, Miss De La Mer, are you nervous?" Tony asked suddenly.

"No," Sylvie frowned. "Why?"

"You keep pulling on the collar of your shirt. Kind of the same way Bruce rubs his hands together."

"Oh, that, well, I'm not exactly comfortable. But I'm not nervous."

"Why aren't you comfortable?" Tony asked. Apparently he needed something to keep him entertained while he waited for his encryption to finish. "Is it because of Bruce?"

Bruce raised his head to look over at them at the sound of his name.

"Bruce doesn't make me nervous. That's an odd thing to say. Far from it, I find him rather fascinating."

"Fascinating," Tony repeated, mulling over the word, "Hmm. So why are you uncomfortable, then?"

"For all S.H.I.E.L.D.'s efforts in finding me suitable clothing, I just don't feel right wearing them."

"Then why do you?"

"Because Steve has informed me that it is not proper to be nude in public."

Tony snorted, "What does he know, he's been frozen for seventy years."

Sylvie gasped, "It wouldn't bother you?"

"We're all human," Tony shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh, Tony, you're amazing!" Sylvie cried, promptly removing her white shirt and jeans. "This feels so much better."

"Wait, wait, wait a second," Bruce tried to interrupt but Sylvie hadn't been listening. She stretched her arms above her head, savouring the feeling of the air soothing her skin. She hadn't had to wear clothing for that long of a period of time since she'd woken from the ice. It felt wonderful to be herself around other people.

Sylvie pulled one of the seeds from her pocket and allowed the Morning Glory vine to grow up her arm, down her chest and up into her hair. She took her seat again between Tony and Bruce, ready to watch their work, and she idly braided the vines through her hair. It wasn't for another few moments that she realized neither of the men were working. Tony was staring openly at her and Bruce was trying his best not to.

Tony smirked, "Yep. Just what I needed."

Sylvie rolled her eyes and then looked at Bruce expectantly. He finally looked over at her, his eyes glazed over.

He gulped slowly, "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Sylvie smiled and upon noticing Bruce's watch beeping steadily faster drew another seed from her pocket. The lavender bloomed brightly and it's fragrant scent calmed him. Slowly the men went back to working and Sylvie returned to watching them.

-X-X-X-

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury bellowed as he rushed in to the lab.

Tony was seated on the desk, Bruce standing behind him, both still nice and calm from the effects of the lavender. Sylvie lounged behind them on a chair. Tony's encryption was done, and Bruce had finally finished his equation to track down the Cube. They were now going through various files on the S.H.I.E.L.D. database and had just come across one named Phase 2.

"Kind of been wondering the same about you," Tony replied.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now." Bruce said. "When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, then you'll get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss." Tony added. "What's Phase 2?"

A loud thud echoed from the other end of the room as Steve appeared, with what seemed to be a large weapon. "Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Cube to make weapons. Sylvie, why are you naked?"

Sylvie rushed to hide herself behind Bruce who quickly raised his hands in the air.

"Sorry, Steve, I didn't know you were coming back right away," she apologized, grabbing her discarded shirt and jeans and quickly pulling them on, "Tony said it was okay."

Steve sighed and glared at Tony, "Sylvie, some men will say that with the express purpose of seeing you naked."

Sylvie smirked at Tony who did nothing to hide the fact that Steve's statement was true.

"Tony, all you had to do was ask."

"I really like this girl," Tony quipped.

"Any way," Steve said, getting back on track, "Computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're making -"

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony said, pulling up the Phase 2 file, showing blue prints for various types of weaponry, "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong Director. The world hasn't changed a bit," Steve said as Thor and Natasha joined them.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Natasha.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" she suggested.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him," Fury finally answered, pointing at Thor.

"Me?" Thor asked, confused.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"But you aren't the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve asked.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor said. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Fury exclaimed. "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down." Tony quipped.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep -" Steve began to say before he was interrupted by Tony.

"Hold on, how is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor butt in.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury retorted.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust."

"Are you boys really that naive?" Natasha interrupted. "S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats."

"Captain America's on threat watch?" Bruce snorted.

"We all are," Natasha replied.

"Wait, you're on that list?" Tony asked Steve, "Are you above or below angry bees?"

"Stark, so help me God if you make one more wisecrack," Steve warned.

"Threat!" Tony exclaimed. "Verbal threat. I feel threatened."

"Show some respect."

"Respect what?"

Sylvie watched as each person in the room continued to argue. The room seemed to buzz with tension. Why didn't she feel angry? Perhaps it had something to do with her plants still snaked around her, or the lavender that was still in the air.

"Everybody calm down!" Sylvie tried to call out but the noise created by their voices speaking over one another was too great.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor said.

"That's his M.O., isn't it?" Bruce pointed out. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

Sylvie stiffened as she realized Bruce was creeping closer to the sceptre. He wasn't calming down and if he got his hands on the sceptre, who knew what he would do.

"You need to step away," Fury stated.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, placing his hand on Steve's shoulder.

Steve batted him away, "You know damn well why. Back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

Steve smiled, "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds."

Sylvie rushed forward, placing herself in between the two men. "Stop. Both of you. Can't you realize that the sceptre is twisting your minds? Steve, you would never speak this way to anyone."

"You people are so petty and tiny," Thor chuckled.

"Yeah, this is a team," Sylvie muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his -"

"Where? You rented my room," Banner scoffed.

"The cell was just in case -"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I've tried."

The room became utterly silent after Bruce's confession. Sylvie felt an ache in her heart at the thought of Bruce hating himself so much that he would try to end his life.

"I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk." Bruce's hand reached out for the sceptre. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

Bruce's fingers closed around the sceptre and began to bring it in front of him. Sylvie noticed both Fury and Natasha unlock their gun holsters. Before anything else could happen she slowly stepped forward, shrugged off Steve's attempt to hold her back and had a fresh lavender bloom on her shoulder.

"Bruce," she said softly, bringing his attention to her. This time his eyes didn't glaze over with what Sylvie was sure was lust, he remained angry. "Put down the sceptre."

And with just those four words the trance on Bruce was gone. He looked down at his hand in confusion, wondering when and how the sceptre had gotten there. His computer chimed, signalling that the Tesseract had been found. Slowly and carefully, Bruce set the sceptre back down on the table.

"I got it," he said, moving towards the computer screens, "Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all."

"You located the Tesseract?" Natasha asked, following him.

"I could get there fastest," Tony announced.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor declared.

Steve grabbed Tony's arm when he attempted to depart. "You're not going alone."

"You're gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

"Boys, come on!" Sylvie yelled, frustrated.

"Oh, my God," Bruce exclaimed just before a blast ripped in to the helicarrier, sending a stream of fire up from under their feet, scattering them all apart.

When Sylvie looked up she was sprawled out between Tony and Steve. They looked at each other over her head and for a moment she was afraid they would start bickering again.

"Put on the suit," Steve said scrambling to his feet.

"Yeah," Tony agreed.

Steve held on to one of Sylvie's arms to help keep her steady. She grabbed her jacket, throwing it over her shoulders and followed them through the maze of hallways.

"There's an engine down. I need to get to it outside. Care to give me a hand, Cap?"

Steve nodded.

"I don't think I'll be much help," Sylvie said, "I'll go see if I can find Natasha and Bruce."

"Be careful," Steve said.

With a grin Sylvie reached up to snake her fingers behind Steve's neck. She pulled him down towards her so fast he had no time to react. Her lips met his in a hungry kiss. When she pulled away Steve had a far-off look on his face.

"What was that for?" he smirked.

"Well, seeing as I can't remember whether I've kissed anyone or not, I figured I'd do it now. You know, just in case I die today."

"You're not dying today, Sylvie," Steve said.

"That means you can't die today, either, soldier," Sylvie said before jogging off in search of the fiery red head and her favourite scientist.

Sylvie found Natasha staring in to a giant hole in a wall. She checked to make sure Natasha was all right before she peered through. On the other side was Thor battling Hulk in the cargo hold. Nothing could have prepared Sylvie for seeing Bruce as Hulk, whether she had her memories or not. He stood at least a foot taller than Thor. Thor was trying his best not to be squashed by Hulk's massive fist. Sylvie watched in awe and fright as Hulk's other fist came crashing in to Thor's side, sending him flying back in to several large crates. Without a second thought Sylvie raced forwards just as Thor burst from the crates. Thor smiled and held his hand out. Sylvie could see Hulk running towards them at full speed.

"Thor?" she called warily, "Please tell me you have a plan."

Hulk was getting closer, and Sylvie didn't know what to do. Why hadn't she taken Natasha to get medical aid, why had she jumped in here, without any training whatsoever in combat? Well, none that she could remember. She was strong, yes, but to go against this massive creature of rage was surely beyond her ken.

Finally Thor's plan came to fruition by the appearance of his hammer. With one great swipe of Mjolnir Thor hit Hulk in the jaw. Hulk landed on a jet. Fury wouldn't be happy about that. Thor and Sylvie ran forward as Hulk tore the wing off the jet, sending it straight for their heads. They dodged it easily, Thor threw the hammer, Hulk caught it, and as he was stuck to the ground Sylvie rushed forward, dodging Hulk's fists to clench her thighs around Hulk's neck. She forced a lavender bloom, hoping that it would calm him. Of course it didn't, and as Hulk thrashed about sending Sylvie flying, Thor jumped up to hit him in the face with his knee. Upon landing he picked up Mjolnir and took Sylvie's place on Hulk's back, trying to choke him with the hammer.

Hulk jumped and Sylvie grabbed on to his foot. They came up through the ceiling in to a research lab. The breath had been knocked out of her and Sylvie gasped as Hulk grabbed her around the midsection, Thor in the other hand. He threw Sylvie in to a wall and smashed Thor in to the floor. The he grabbed Sylvie again and punched her in the face before sending her across the room. He picked up Thor and threw him against her. Sylvie heard the rain of bullets rather than saw them, her face was buried in Thor's chest. A very nice chest, she noted. Thor easily and strategically moved them to the side of the room where they would hopefully be out of the way of the gunfire. Hulk roared and before she knew what had happened Hulk had thrown himself out of the helicarrier and on to the jet.

"Are you all right, Lady Sylvie?" Thor asked, his golden hair tickling her face.

Sylvie threw her arms around him and pulled him in to a sloppy, yet completely satisfying kiss. She pulled away and took a deep breath, smiling, "I'm great now."

Thor chuckled and helped her to her feet, "You are a most formidable warrior."

"I dunno about that," Sylvie scoffed, "But apparently I don't hurt too easily."

"No, you wouldn't," Thor smiled.

"Seriously, do you and Loki know me, or what?"

Thor's face fell, "Loki."

They ran out of the lab, heading for Loki's cage. Surely they would have helped him to escape by now. But no, he was still in the cage when they arrived. The door was only just being opened. Thor ran forward with a yell, intending on tackling Loki back in to the cage. He threw himself at Loki who disintegrated around him, sending Thor alone in to the cage. The door shut behind him.

"Thor!" Sylvie cried, rushing forward.

Loki appeared behind her, wrapping an arm around her chest, pining her arms to her side, and pulling her back flush against his chest. He buried his nose in her hair, taking a long sniff.

Loki sighed and then addressed Thor, "Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

Thor bashed his hammer against the glass wall of the cage.

"No!" she cried, but Loki wrapped his long, cool fingers around her throat, silencing her.

The cage rattled, causing Thor to pause. Loki chuckled.

"The humans think us immortal," Loki said cheerily, moving towards the control panel for the cage, "Should we test that?"

They heard Loki's henchman gasp and fall to the floor. Agent Coulson stood behind him with a large, loaded weapon.

"Move away, please."

Sylvie took her moment to elbow Loki in the ribs and slam her heel down on his toes, but he recovered quickly. He grabbed the hand she had sent towards his face and threw her towards Coulson as if she were a feather. She fell on to the ground with a thud between them. Loki backed away from the control panel.

"You like this?" Coulson asked, stepping towards Loki.

Loki himself moved forward a few steps, hands raised at his waistline.

"We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don't know what it does."

Coulson engaged the weapon and it began to glow a reddish-gold, very similar to fire. Sylvie could do nothing but watch from the ground as the two men came closer and closer together. She wanted to tell Coulson to move away, that he was no match for Loki, but she couldn't speak.

"Do you want to find out?" Coulson asked.

Then suddenly Loki was behind Coulson, not in front of him. Sylvie screamed at the sound of the sceptre punching through Coulson's suit, and then his skin.

"No!" Thor yelled, slamming himself against the glass of the cage.

The Loki that was still standing in front of Coulson disappeared in a golden light and Coulson fell back against the wall, still clutching the weapon. Loki stepped past him without so much as a glance. He grabbed Sylvie by a fistful of hair and dragged her back towards the control panel. She scrambled after him on hands on knees, desperately, impossibly trying to pry his fingers from her.

Loki looked at Thor with a chuckle before opening the case that covered the button to send the cage down. In one last futile attempt Sylvie sent her fists flying at Loki but he released her hair and kicked her to the floor, resting the sceptre on her neck. Sylvie felt Coulson's blood dripping from the sceptre down on to her chest. She watched helplessly as Loki opened the hatch. He seemed, for a moment, to hesitate, his hand shaking over the button that would release Thor. But whatever was causing him to be this way won. He slammed his fingers on to the red button and the cage, with Thor inside, was sent plummeting.

Loki watched for a few seconds before he grabbed Sylvie, gasping on the floor, and began to make his way from the room.

"You're going to lose," Coulson's voice came from behind them.

Loki turned, "Am I?"

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered," Loki said, taking a step towards Coulson. "Your floating fortress falls from the sky." A few more steps. "Where is my disadvantage?" A few more steps.

"You lack conviction."

"I don't think I'm -"

Coulson fired the gun suddenly, sending Loki flying back. His hold on Sylvie was still strong and she found herself pushed back with him. They tore through the side of the room, rolling in to a hall. Loki's hold on Sylvie was gone, she sprung up, facing him with her hands up, ready for a fight. She felt adrenaline rushing through her veins. Loki smirked and slowly got to his feet.

Before he could make a move on her Sylvie swung her leg out in a high-arching kick. Her body seemed to know how to fight before her brain could even register that she should. Loki dodged but Sylvie moved in again, her fist landing in his stomach. Loki smiled appreciatively before he swung around, narrowly missing her neck with the sceptre. She kicked it out of the way, jumping and getting him in the side of the head with her other foot.

Loki clenched his jaw, looking irritated. When Sylvie went to swing her fist forward she found it stopped. Loki was now behind her, and in front of her. Normally she would have found this intriguing, but under current circumstances, not so much. Loki grabbed her leg when she tried to swing around and slammed her head against the wall. Black spots began to appear in the edges of Sylvie's vision.

"You're no match for me," Loki whispered in her ear, "No matter who you were before, I still have more experience than you. You've no idea the things you could be capable of. I could show you. You could be my queen."

" _Va te faire foutre_ ," Sylvie hissed.

Loki slammed her head against the wall again and Sylvie lost consciousness.

-X-X-X-

Va te faire foutre - Fuck off


	6. Chapter Six

Sylvie woke with a start. She was in a jet, again. Why couldn't she just get back to land, already? She sat up slowly, hands clinging to her head. After being away from the ground for such a lengthy time, then the battle, and then Loki bashing her head against a wall, she could no longer keep the pressure down. Sylvie made to put her hand in her pocket to feel the dirt, but was met with open air. Where was her dirt? Where was her jacket for that matter? She searched the area near her frantically.

"Looking for this?" Loki's slow drawl sounded behind her.

Sylvie turned quickly, regretting it immediately as pain surged through her head, to see Loki standing at the front of the jet, smirking smugly, her denim jacket hanging from his fingers, her vines hung limply from the pocket.

"What do you want from me?"

Loki chuckled, taking a couple steps towards her. "I only want you to be the best that you can be. The way you're living now is weak. You are a goddess, and should act as such, and be treated as such."

Sylvie couldn't deny that the thought of Loki treating her like a goddess was titillating. But the question remained, why did he think she was a goddess? She was just a girl from the coast of France.

"You don't believe me."

"Aren't you supposed to be 'the god of mischief and lies'? Not a very trustworthy title, by the way."

Loki shrugged. "Misunderstandings, all of it."

"So we're misunderstanding your attack on Earth?"

Loki simply smirked again. He was infuriating. Could the man never properly answer a question?

"Can I have my dirt back please?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because you don't need it."

Sylvie rolled her eyes. "I think I would know what I need and don't need."

"Obviously you don't. You don't even know who you are. You can't remember anything, can you?"

"How do you know that?"

"I know a lot of things."

"Like what?" Sylvie asked, irritated.

"I know who the original owner of that necklace was."

Sylvie fingered her necklace. It had been passed down from mother to daughter for several generations. She already knew that.

"So?"

"And she was not of Earth."

"Are you saying I'm not human?"

"Sir, we're here," a man in a black military uniform informed Loki as the jet began to land.

"Come now, darling. We have a world to rule," Loki purred, pulling her out of the jet and on to the roof of Stark Tower, leaving the jacket behind.

The scientist, Erik Selvig, was already there. Sylvie stared at the Tesseract being held in some sort of device. It crackled and energy surged from it. She felt a twisting in her chest. This was bad, very bad. And there was something so familiar about the sight of the Tesseract being surrounded by such machinery. She'd seen it before, but where? She needed to get her strength back, that's all she knew. Loki pushed her ahead of him towards the tower and once they were inside he threw her down on to the floor. As soon as Loki's attention was off of her she searched for something she could use to strengthen herself. Surely Tony had to have a plant of some kind, even a cactus.

Sylvie heard Tony approaching in his suit. She knew they'd come. Loki smirked to himself, and forgetting her for the time being, went out to watch. She could see a spiked potted plant outside, but it was only a couple of feet from where Loki stood, much too close for her to get to, and it was more than likely fake, anyway. Scrambling on hands and knees, Sylvie abandoned the idea of strengthening herself and instead crawled towards what looked like a bar. Perhaps she could find a knife, anything sharp that she could use to defend herself. So far Loki's attention was completely focused on Tony. She glanced out the windows and saw Tony land, machinery removing his suit. Why the hell is he removing his suit, Sylvie exclaimed to herself, he was no match for Loki without it. Sylvie cursed to herself when she realized that the only thing in this bar was alcohol. Loki began to back away from Tony, back towards the door as Tony's suit was being removed. Sylvie eyed the kitchen island to her left. There was no way she could get there before Loki saw her. As Loki reentered the building a gust of wind came with him.

 _Meditate._ The wind whispered to her.

Meditate?! She balked at the wind's suggestion.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki sneered as Tony entered the building from the opposite end of the room, behind her.

"Uh, actually, I'm planning to threaten you," Tony reciprocated.

The wind followed Tony in as well and tugged at her hair, whispering more urgently, _meditate!_ Sylvie sighed, and trying not to draw attention to herself, breathed deeply, closing her eyes. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what was about to happen to Tony, anyway. She retreated into her own head, vaguely aware of Tony and Loki's conversation around her.

"You should have left your armour on for that."

"Yeah." Tony sighed. To Sylvie's surprise she could slowly feel her energy returning with each breath. It wasn't coming back as quickly as it would if she were on the ground, but it was coming back, either way. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Want a drink?"

Gosh, a drink sounded lovely. Sylvie kept her eyes shut, kept breathing in a deep and calm manner, allowing her energy to return. Tony was to her left, at the kitchen island and then he languidly made his way towards the bar, and Sylvie. He picked up a carafe of red wine and handed it to her, effectively cutting off her meditation, before grabbing a decanter of scotch.

Loki laughed, "Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no, threatening." Tony said, handing her a glass and grabbing one for himself. "No drink? Are you sure? We're having one."

Loki grumbled and turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows. The pounding in Sylvie's head had successfully ebbed away and she happily took a gulp of the wine.

"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

Except he did look frightened, Sylvie thought, not nearly as confident as he had seemed before.

"The Avengers," Tony said matter-of-factly.

Who the hell were the Avengers? Loki looked at Tony, and Sylvie shared in his confusion. Tony rolled his eyes.

"That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. 'Earth's mightiest heroes'-type thing." Tony poured himself a drink and then motioned to Sylvie, "That includes you, by the way, Mother Earth."

"Yes, I've met them," Loki laughed.

"Yeah." Tony scoffed. "It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count, here. Your brother, the demigod; a super soldier," Tony grabbed a silver bracelet from behind the bar, giving her a pointed look. "A living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, a girl who could beat you up with a tree."

Sylvie almost choked on her wine. She wasn't entirely sure she could do that, actually.

"And you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan," Loki sneered, scrunching his nose in a way that Sylvie hated to admit was adorable.

"Not a great plan," Tony said, sipping his scotch, walking towards Loki. Sylvie grabbed at his arm to stop him but he shrugged her off. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army," Loki replied, but Sylvie noted he looked considerably paler.

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off."

"You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

Loki stalked towards Tony, sending a nervous shiver up Sylvie's spine. She didn't like the look in his sunken, emotionless eyes.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they are so busy fighting you?" He snarled, and brought the sceptre up to point at Tony's chest. The blue light surrounded it, ready to invade Tony's body and mind. It touched Tony's chest with a metallic clink. Loki looked down in confusion and then tried again only to be met with the same clinking sound. "This usually works."

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon," Tony joked and Sylvie rolled her eyes. "One out of five."

She stepped forward to be closer to Tony in case he needed her. She wasn't sure she could actually do anything, but so what. Sylvie stopped in her tracks as Loki reached out to grasp Tony's throat.

"No!" She screamed as Loki threw him away from her, next to the windows.

Sylvie ran forward but Loki was in the way, stalking towards Tony. If only she had her seeds, she could do something. Why didn't Tony have plants?! Loki picked Tony up again, his hand gripping his jaw.

"You will all fall before me," Loki growled.

Sylvie felt as if she were watching the scene play out in slow motion. She watched Loki holding Tony, watched as Tony struggled against him, watched as Loki tossed Tony through the window and over the side of the building as if he were no more than a minor nuisance. She heard herself screaming but didn't quite feel it. Some power inside of her took over. The wind blew in as if riding on the waves of a hurricane, whipping around Loki. He fought against the invisible force that pulled and pushed at him.

"And there's one other person you pissed off," Tony's voice broke through the rage inside of her.

Sylvie sighed heavily; Tony's suit had caught him, he was okay.

"His name was Phil," Tony said and shot Loki in the chest. Loki landed with a thud, the sceptre flying from his grasp.

Suddenly the machinery holding the Tesseract began to whir and then a great beam of blue light shot in to the sky. A great hole opened up in the sky and Sylvie watched in horror as hundreds of aliens came flying through the hole and over New York City. Tony flew off immediately up towards the aliens, leaving Sylvie frustrated and annoyed. The aliens flew down towards the city, coming closer to the tower. Sylvie breathed deeply, she could do this, she could find a way to fight these creatures. She ran out to the edge of the building. The usually playful wind whipped around her and she felt its intense desire to wreak havoc. She raised her hands in the air and with a great cry unleashed it with as much ferocity as she could muster.

The aliens didn't see it coming, how could they, they couldn't see the wind like she could. It whipped around the creatures, throwing them from their flying machines to fall the hundreds of feet and splat on the hard concrete below. But it wasn't enough. Tony could only shoot down a small percentage of the creatures still streaming in from the hole, and Sylvie couldn't control the wind enough to go after more than a few of the creatures at a time. They were decimating the city below them, unsuspecting citizens were scattered or crushed by falling debris or were shot down. Sylvie felt a presence behind her and turned to find Loki back in his armour, horned helmet gleaming in the sunlight.

"You can't stop it," he smirked, "There's too many of them, even for you."

Sylvie didn't bother amusing Loki with a verbal response. Instead she flicked her wrist and Loki stumbled back from the force of the wind hitting him square in the chest. She was beyond livid at that point and she continued to berate him with gust after gust of wind, Loki powerless to stop it. She was interrupted when Thor landed on the lower roof to her right.

"Loki!" He yelled, brandishing his hammer at his side. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it."

"You can't," Loki pointed the sceptre at him, "There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

"So be it."

Loki and Thor were completely enthralled with each other, ignoring Sylvie. Wow, she thought, these two sure know how to make a girl feel special. Loki threw himself down to Thor's level, bringing the sceptre down with a slicing motion. Thor deflected and the sceptre and the hammer collided. Sylvie looked out over the city again, she had to get down there somehow, no doubt Steve would be there soon. Sylvie jumped when Loki and Thor's battle took down the K in Stark's name, sending it tumbling down the side of the building. Sylvie saw the jet, then, streaking through the sky towards Tony and she watched as he laid out several of the creatures in line, the jet taking them out with skillful accuracy.

Thor and Loki were still lost in their own world, each trying to overtake the other in a battle of strength and skill. The jet careened down towards the building and Sylvie took her chance, getting a running start and leapt up on to the wing. They shot at Loki as soon as Thor was out of range. Loki fired back, hitting the wing that Sylvie was clinging precariously to. One more hit and she would be falling. Thankfully Thor tackled Loki and Sylvie had just enough time to secure her position on the wing before the jet went spiraling down. She clung for dear life as the jet collided with buildings and then finally skidded to a halt. Sylvie lost her grip and went flying through the air, landing on her back roughly in front of the jet.

What a ride.

"Sylvie!" she heard Steve's concerned voice as he ran from the jet and to her side. "Are you okay?!"

Sylvie took his outstretched hand and sprung to her feet, stretching her limbs, "I feel great! That _has_ to be the coolest thing I've ever done, right?"

Steve chuckled and they ran back around the jet to stare up at the now distant Stark Tower. Tony was still up in the air, shooting down as many of the aliens as he could.

"We got to get back up there," Steve said and they followed him through the debris-ridden streets.

They halted when they heard a terrible great screech and looked up at the hole in the sky to see a giant leviathan-like creature fly in. How the hell were they going to fight that thing? It seemed like a creature both natural and machine. It carried hundreds more aliens as well, only adding to the already seemingly insurmountable challenge. As it flew down through the streets the aliens jumped off the creature, falling through windows in to office buildings, or scaling the walls.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked.

"Seeing. Still working on believing," Tony responded. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?"

"Just keep me posted."

The wind whipped around Sylvie.

"Loki's in the air," she informed the group.

"Who are you?" the blond man asked. Sylvie recognized him from the photograph Natasha had been looking at on the helicarrier.

"Sylvie," she nodded stoically, readying herself to fight; she'd worry about how cute he was later.

"Barton," he replied with a nod.

A shot fired over their heads and the group hid behind an abandoned taxi.

"We've got civilians still trapped up here," Barton said.

They were momentarily distracted as Loki, along with a few of the aliens, flew over their heads and fired on a street packed with people.

"They're fish in a barrel down there," Steve said.

Natasha and Clint went in to battle mode as four aliens dropped down in front of them. Sylvie breathed deeply, feeling energy pulsing through her veins.

"We got this," Natasha said to her and Steve, "It's good. Go."

"Do you think you can hold them off?" Steve asked Barton.

"Captain," Barton said, readying his bow, "It would be my genuine pleasure." And without a moment of hesitation he turned and fired on the aliens.

Natasha joined him, and Steve and Sylvie took off in the opposite direction, towards the stranded civilians. Aliens still airborne fired on them, sending jets of fire streaming behind them. If she could control the wind, maybe she could control the fire too, so Sylvie flicked her wrist and smiled at the satisfactory sounds of the aliens screeching, the fire burning them up. She and Steve continued to run, they couldn't afford to slow down for a second. She released the wind to its own devices and listened as the wind and fire worked in unison to engulf any alien who came too near to the flames. The ones out of reach were thrown from their vehicles or crushed. Sylvie finally stopped behind a cab and continued to manipulate what she could, keeping the aliens at bay while Steve talked to the police force. A few broke through and Steve had to dispatch them himself.

"Sorry, Steve!" Sylvie yelled back to him and he silenced her with a wave of his hand.

Now that the police were doing what they needed them to do, Steve and Sylvie ran back to help Natasha and Barton. There were several of the creatures surrounding them and Steve and Sylvie jumped down on top of them. Sylvie pushed the alien beneath her to the ground, sending her fist flying at its face. The alien's head was crushed easily and Sylvie hopped back up to kick another. Sylvie didn't think, she just let the heat of the battle consume her. A bolt of lightning took out the last three of the aliens as Thor landed nearby.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable."

"Thor's right," Tony added, "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team," Steve said.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor stated.

"Yeah? Well, get in line." Barton said.

"I'm after Barton," Sylvie said quickly, "That asshole stole my dirt."

"Save it," Steve said, "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to -"

Steve was interrupted by the sound of an engine. The group turned to see Bruce weaving his way through abandoned cars and debris on a small motorbike. Sylvie ran forward and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"You're okay!" she reassured herself.

"So, this all seems horrible," he said to the group when she pulled away.

"I've seen worse," Natasha said.

"Sorry," Bruce nodded.

"No, we could use a little worse," Natasha smirked.

"Stark, we got him," Steve spoke.

"Banner?" he confirmed.

"Just like you said."

"Tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you."

No more than two seconds later Tony appeared around the corner of a building, the giant leviathan practically nipping at his toes. It took out the corner of the building as it passed.

"I don't see how that's a party," Natasha said.

"Come on, Natasha," Sylvie grinned, "Use your imagination."

Tony led the leviathan straight towards them. Bruce turned towards the creature.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called to him. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," Bruce smiled, walking towards the oncoming monster. "I'm always angry."

Bruce turned towards the monster and simultaneously morphed into the larger, greener version of himself. Bruce's massive fist landed directly on the monster's nose, denting its armor and sending its face into the ground. Bruce and the monster skidded several feet before he came to a stop. The body and tail of the creature flew forward, stacking on top of itself. Sylvie called the wind up to try to push it but it was coming too fast.

"Hold on," Tony called out above them and shot a rocket in to the flesh underneath the armor. Sylvie turned away from the blast as the creature exploded and its head careened off the road. The aliens clinging to the outlying buildings screeched in anger. Hulk roared in response and Tony landed next to them as they stood and surveyed the situation.

"That was so hot!" Sylvie cheered, patting Hulk on the back emphatically.

"Guys," Natasha warned, turning their attention to the multitude of other leviathans now coming through the hole.

"Call it, Captain," Tony said.

"All right, listen up," Steve announced, "Until we can close that portal our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Sylvie, I want you on the opposite roof, from there you should have a good view and lots of wind to work with. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Can you give us a lift?" Barton asked.

"Right," Tony agreed, grabbing Barton, "Better clench up, Legolas." He grabbed Sylvie by the waist and then flew them up to their respective rooftops.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal," Steve continued to give orders, "Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

Thor eagerly flung himself in to the air.

"You and me, we stay here on the ground," he said to Natasha. "We keep the fighting here. And Hulk, smash."

Sylvie watched with a smile as Hulk leapt from building to building, smashing aliens as he went. Sylvie stood at the corner of the roof, staring across the street at Barton who was readying his bow. They nodded to each other and Sylvie threw her hands in the air and the wind whipped around her, writhing with impatience. She flung her arms out, unleashing the wind and watched as it knocked several aliens off their perches and sent them in Hulk's direction. He grabbed them out of the air and bashed their skulls against the building. Barton and Sylvie worked together, killing off the aliens on either side of the street. But there were still too many.

Barton shot an alien with an exploding arrow and Sylvie used the resulting fire to engulf two more aliens close behind it. An alien was hit by a gust of wind and fell on to the building behind Sylvie. She whipped around, grabbing it by the collar and threw it over her shoulder and over the edge. She looked down in time to see Natasha jump and catch on to one of the alien vehicles. Needless to say, she was jealous, it looked like fun. Another alien was scaling the walls and she threw it off. Hulk flew by riding a leviathan, ripping aliens out of it one after the other, Thor joining him a moment later.

_Selvig's awake. He's back to normal. Army has arrived._

Several Chitauri landed on the roof behind Sylvie. She spun, kicking the first in the jaw, stealing his staff in the process. She used the staff to shoot the second alien and then whirled it around to stick the sharp end in to the third's ribs. A fourth Chitauri tackled Sylvie at the knees and they went tumbling over the edge. Once she had finished screaming in terror, Sylvie flipped the alien beneath her, landing on it rather than the concrete below. The concrete caved in, creating a rather large crater in the street. That fall should have killed her, she thought, before she was interrupted by a flash of blue light and Steve came hurtling out of the bank window up the street. Sylvie ran to him, pulling him off the roof of the vehicle he'd landed on.

"Steve, are you all right?"

Steve nodded weakly and waved her off, catching his breath. Firefighters and cops and soldiers were corralling people from the bank down to the subway. Steve stood, listening, looking around him at the carnage in despair. Sylvie grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her.

"Steve, we're gonna be okay."

"I don't know if we can do this, Sylvie," Steve muttered. "These are aliens."

"And we're handling them. You're still here, I'm still here. Tony and Thor and Natasha and Barton and Bruce are all here," Sylvie stiffened for a moment, then chuckled, "Hulk has Loki in the tower."

"And?"

"I don't think Loki is going anywhere," she smirked.

Steve returned the chuckle and as if a switch had been flicked, he was back. Sylvie and Steve took out several Chitauri that flew too low. They stood back to back as several Chitauri dropped one at a time to surround them. Sylvie threw wind and fire at them, again and again. She and Steve bounced off each other to take them out but the aliens continued to surround them. Thor dropped down next to them, taking out three at once, and renewing Steve and Sylvie's resolve. Steve threw his shield out to take out two and Sylvie ducked beneath it to kick out the legs of another.

Sylvie spun around in time to see Steve get hit in the stomach. Four Chitauri shot at her and Thor. Sylvie dropped at Steve's side as Thor overturned a car, taking out the four as well as another that had landed. He spun around quickly and threw Mjolnir at one coming at them from behind.

"Can you breathe?" Sylvie asked and Steve nodded. She helped him to his feet. She tried to survey the damage but Steve covered it with his hand.

"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor asked.

"What, are you getting sleepy?" Steve joked.

"I can close it," Natasha said weakly. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."

"Do it!" Steve yelled urgently.

"No, wait," Tony interrupted.

"Stark, these things are still coming," Steve said.

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute." Sylvie caught sight of it then, coming in over the expanse of ocean. "And I know just where to put it."

"No, Tony, don't!" Sylvie cried.

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip," Steve said.

No reply came. Tony flew overhead, missile above him, towards the tower, before changing course and heading straight up. He disappeared beyond the portal hole and Sylvie grabbed Steve's hand in anticipation. They waited, and waited. The Chitauri fell all at once around them. They could see the blast as it took the enemy ship. Still no sign of Tony.

"Where is he?!" Sylvie screamed.

Steve and Thor shared a look.

"Close it," Steve ordered.

Sylvie whirled around to face Steve. How could he? Steve stared back at her, trying to convey his sadness without words. The beam disappeared a moment later and the portal hole began to shut. Steve averted his eyes but Sylvie couldn't look away as the hole grew smaller and smaller. And then she saw it, the figure of a man, in a red and gold suit falling through the sky.

"Yes!" Sylvie yelled triumphantly.

"Son of a gun," Steve smiled.

Their smiles disappeared. Tony wasn't flying, he was still falling, and he wasn't slowing.

"He's not slowing down," Thor said, spinning his hammer.

Sylvie threw her hands up, calling to the wind. Stop him, she begged, don't let him fall. "I can't stop him. He's falling too fast."

A green blur flew threw the air at Tony, plucking him from the sky. Hulk had him in his arm and dropped down the side of a building to land roughly on the road. Sylvie, Steve, and Thor took off running. Hulk threw Tony off of him.

"Is he breathing?" Steve asked.

Thor ripped his face-plate off to reveal a non-responsive Tony Stark. Steve leaned down to check for breath and then pulled away.

"Come on, Tony," Sylvie pleaded, placing her hand over the arc reactor on his chest.

Nothing.

Hulk roared in anger and Tony suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath and yelled. Hulk roared again, Sylvie was sure it was a happy roar rather than an angry roar this time, and beat his fist against his chest.

"What the hell?" Tony gasped. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Sylvie looked taken aback and then Tony noticed her and smirked, "Unless it was you, of course."

For once Steve didn't get angry at Tony's salacious flirting. He chuckled and sighed in relief. "We won."

"All right, yay." Tony breathed, "Hooray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here."

Sylvie laughed.

"I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor informed them, dampening the mood.

"He's still up in the tower," Sylvie said.

"And then shawarma after," Tony said.

They hauled Tony to his feet and made their way to Stark Tower. Tony grabbed Steve by the collar and Sylvie jumped up on to Hulk's back as he jumped up to the roof. Loki looked a little worse for wear as he propped himself up on the stairs, pretty face all cut up, and clutching his stomach. He turned to look at them slowly as Barton notched an arrow in his bow.

"If it's all the same to you," Loki drawled and sighed in defeat, chuckling to himself, "I'll have that drink now."

Sylvie laughed. She did kinda like him. And she also wouldn't mind a drink after the day they just had. Steve silenced her with a look.


	7. Chapter Seven

"What's it like?"

Sylvie whirled around, still on edge from the battle, to find Natasha standing in the doorway to the medical room of Stark Tower. Despite Sylvie's assurances that she was fine, Steve had insisted she get checked over. The doctors gave her a clean bill of health. Natasha was cleaned up, out of her trademark leather bodysuit, now wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a plain t-shirt. She had a new set of clothes in her hands, presumably for Sylvie.

"What's what like?" Sylvie replied.

"Not remembering anything," Natasha said, averting her gaze for a moment to look down at the floor. "What's it like not remembering the things you've done?"

Sylvie shrugged. "I don't know. Frustrating? Part of me wants to know, so that I can stop wondering. And another part of me doesn't want to know, because then maybe I won't be able to live with myself."

Natasha nodded lightly, handed the clean clothes to Sylvie and spun around to leave.

"What is it you want to forget?" Sylvie asked.

Natasha paused and Sylvie saw her gulp. She turned slowly, mask back up, a sly smile on her face.

"Nothing."

Sylvie rolled her eyes, "You don't fool me, you know. I can see it, the pain and suffering. You hide it from everyone, but I can see it."

She was silent as Sylvie stripped and donned the new clothes. Finally Natasha sighed and walked over to sit on the bed.

"I grew up in a, uh, school, for lack of a better term. The school took in orphaned girls, ones that no one was looking for, ones who didn't matter, and taught them to be assassins."

"That's terrible."

Natasha grinned wryly, "They would brainwash us into becoming what they wanted. And they had an extremely high standard. I was the best student they'd seen in over fifty years, and I still never came close."

"Close to what?"

" _Her_ ," Natasha whispered, "They used to tell us a story, about the first student they'd ever had. She was extremely fast, and extremely strong. She mastered every single skill they taught her. She was what we were trying to become. Most of the girls didn't believe she was real, that she was just a story to get us to try harder, there was no way any one woman could be everything she was."

"What do you mean?"

"According to the story, she knew over 1,000 languages, there was no language they taught her that she didn't become fluent in. She mastered over 20 different types of fighting styles, and her academics were impeccable. There was literally nothing they taught her that she didn't excel at. And on top of that, she was said to be the most beautiful girl anyone had ever seen."

Sylvie scoffed, "Definitely sounds like a story."

"It wasn't until later, after all the bad I'd done, after I deflected, that I found out what they hadn't told us about her."

"What more could there be?"

Natasha smirked, "They could never control her. No matter how much they tried to influence her, bend her to their will, she resisted. Every single step of the way. After years and years they thought they had her under control, and even though they saw her as a possible liability, she was also an asset. So they began sending her on missions, and for the most part she did what she was told."

"Until?" Sylvie asked, sensing that there was more to the story.

"Until she met a man."

"What happened to her?"

"She disappeared." Natasha paused for a moment, as if she needed to gain courage to continue speaking. "When we 'graduate' so to speak, they called it a ceremony, but it was anything but, they would take us in to surgery, and sterilize us."

A shiver crawled up Sylvie's spine and her blood turned cold. She couldn't imagine something so heinous. She looked at Natasha, beginning to understand the woman sitting next to her.

"They sterilized us because their star pupil was sent out on a mission, where she met a man, the one she was supposed to kill. She fell in love with him. When they found out, they sent someone else to do what she couldn't. She found his dead body, and became furious. She returned, and killed almost everyone, including most of the children, and then she just disappeared, never to be heard from again."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sylvie asked shakily, feeling slightly sick.

Natasha smiled sadly and shrugged, "Just thought you might understand."

Without another word Natasha hopped down from the bed and left the room. What the hell was that? Certainly Sylvie couldn't be that legend. Her mother's words echoed in her mind. " _Darling, one day this will be the greatest boarding school for **girls** in all of Europe. It is a great honour to be one of the **first** students._ " Had her father sent her to this assassin school? Had he hated her that much?

Sylvie's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Thor's massive frame filled the empty space of the doorway.

"Lady Sylvie," he bowed his head, "Might I have a word?"

Sylvie pushed Natasha's story to the back of her mind. She nodded and motioned for Thor to enter. Not for the first or last time, Sylvie was amazed by the sheer size of him, he really was a masterpiece.

"You're not here to tell me a story, are you?" Sylvie asked warily.

Thor eyed her oddly, "No. I am here to extend an invitation to you to join me on my return to Asgard."

Sylvie's eyes widened. "What?"

"My mother wishes very much to meet you. I believe there are many things you could learn from her."

"Does this have anything to do with me not being human?"

Thor looked taken aback and then he sighed, "Loki."

Sylvie nodded, "He didn't really tell me anything. But he did say that this necklace wasn't from Earth, and it has been passed down for generations in my family, so..."

Thor nodded sadly, "I am sorry you had to learn of your heritage that way, my lady, however there is so much more. If you wish to join me, you are most welcome."

"Thank you, Thor. I'll think about it tonight. You're leaving tomorrow morning?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll see you then. But I should go, Steve is waiting for me."

"Until tomorrow, lady Sylvie," Thor bowed and left the room.

Great, how was she going to tell Steve that she was leaving?

-X-X-X-

Sylvie felt terrible and nervous as she clutched on to Steve. The motorbike beneath them purred as they made their way towards Central Park. Steve had dropped her off at home last night and then returned in the morning to pick her up, and she had yet to tell him that she was leaving. Steve slowed the motorbike next to the road, behind a S.H.I.E.L.D. car. Tony pulled up in front of them in a purple car. Sylvie giggled when she saw the muzzle on Loki. He still somehow managed to look incredibly sexy and intimidating, though. Maybe she'd learn how to look that intimidating on Asgard, too, although she doubted it.

Erik Selvig pulled a glass tube case out of the back of a S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle. Tony opened the briefcase he'd been carrying to reveal the Tesseract, which Bruce handled with a pair of metal tongs. Sylvie nudged Steve when he continued to stare at it in anger. Thor said his goodbyes to the team and Selvig, and then turned towards Sylvie.

"Lady Sylvie, have you made your decision?" he asked, causing the rest of the group to look at her suddenly.

Sylvie gulped and nodded. "I'm coming with you."

She was sure if Loki didn't have that muzzle on he'd be smirking. Steve grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn to look at him.

"You're leaving?"

Sylvie smiled sadly at him, "Steve, I'm not human. And I want to know where I come from. Thor said I can find out in Asgard."

"But, how will I see you again?"

"Now that we have the Tesseract, the Bifrost will be restored," Thor said, "Lady Sylvie will be allowed to return as soon as it is ready."

"See," Sylvie smiled, "We'll see each other soon. You won't even know I'm gone."

Steve's jaw tightened and Sylvie ran her fingers along the skin, trying to soothe him. She reached up to kiss his cheek.

"I'll be back soon, soldier. I promise."

Steve nodded tensely but allowed Sylvie to move out of his reach. She stood next to Thor, looking out at everyone.

"Clint, it was nice fighting with you," she said and Clint nodded in reply. "Natasha?"

Natasha looked at Sylvie with her usual emotionless expression. Sylvie cleared her throat, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Surprise flitted across Natasha's face. Just long enough for Sylvie to catch it.

"Tony, don't go poking Bruce with any more sharp objects."

"No guarantees, Galadriel," he quipped with a smirk.

"Bruce," Sylvie smiled, waiting for Bruce's shy eyes to meet hers. She simply winked, causing him to blush furiously. Sylvie threw her arm over Loki's shoulders and was met with a menacing glare. She grinned cheekily at him before he grabbed the handle on the Tesseract case. Thor twisted his end and in a flash of blue they were gone.

-X-X-X-

Sylvie's first instinct was to look down at her feet, as she stumbled, to be sure she had landed properly. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight of the ethereal-looking rainbow-coloured bridge beneath her. A few feet in front of her the bridge ended jaggedly, falling off in to a black sky littered with thousands of bright stars and smeared with fluorescent reds and oranges and blues and greens. Sylvie had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

"Welcome back, Prince," a deep, velvety voice said from behind her.

Not realizing there had been anyone there, Sylvie spun around with a gasp to see an extremely tall, dark-skinned man with golden eyes watching her with amusement, a golden helm atop his head. His shoulders and chest were broad, legs planted strong, and a massive sword was clutched in his equally massive hands. Sylvie shivered, he intimidated her and titillated her all at once. He smirked lightly, stepping forward from his position in front of large golden gates. Even though he was large and his armour obviously heavy, his steps were light and agile. He came to a stop in front of Sylvie and dropped to one knee, bowing his head respectfully.

"Welcome to Asgard, Lady Sylvie de la Mer. I am Heimdall, guard and protector of the Bifrost and of Asgard."

Sylvie smiled and giggled to herself when he stood back up to his full height, well over a foot taller than herself. His golden eyes contrasted strikingly against his dark skin and again Sylvie felt a shiver climb slowly up her spine. She placed her hand on his chest flirtatiously and smiled wider.

"When do you get off duty?"

Heimdall grinned but replied politely, "My duty as Gatekeeper ends with my death."

Sylvie's smile fell slightly. "You mean, you don't ever leave here?"

"I do not."

Sylvie balked but could not respond for Thor interrupted them.

"Heimdall, I have returned with the Tesseract. We may begin reconstruction of the Bifrost and the observatory immediately. I must see Father, now."

"He has already been informed of your return and awaits you in the throne room."

Thor nodded his head, handed the Tesseract to Heimdall, and then pulled on Loki's chains, leading him through the large golden gates. Sylvie gasped and stared in awe as the city sprawled out before them, shining bright gold in the sunlight, large bright green trees scattered across the city in a striking contrast. They headed straight for what Sylvie assumed was the palace, the tallest building there, Sylvie swore it stood even higher than the mountains in the distance behind it. As they walked a few people gathered to watch them and all gasped and bowed as they passed. A few of the people even held their hands out to her in greeting.

Eventually they reached the stone and golden doors of the palace, flanked by guards. The guards wore silver and gold armour and gold cloaks. These people really like gold, Sylvie mused. Thor passed Loki's chains on to the guards and then led Sylvie inside, towards another set of golden doors. In front of them stood a tall, beautiful woman with flowing golden hair, wearing an exquisite sky-blue gown. She smiled fondly at Thor and embraced him warmly.

"Mother, I wish to introduce to you the Lady Sylvie, of Midgard," he announced, motioning towards Sylvie. "Lady Sylvie, this is my mother Frigga, queen of Asgard."

Sylvie balked at once before collecting herself and fell in to a deep curtsy.

"Hello, child," Frigga's soft, comforting voice said. She reached out to take Sylvie's hands in hers and Sylvie stood. Frigga smiled at her and she saw tears glistening in her eyes. "You look so much like her."

"I keep hearing that, but I'm not sure who this 'her' is," Sylvie smiled bashfully.

"All will be explained, dear. Thor, please take her to my chambers. I'll be there in a moment to get her ready to see the king."

"I should speak to father," Thor said.

"You'll have to wait until he's done with Loki," Frigga said grimly.

Thor nodded and then led Sylvie left down a long corridor, past numerous wooden doors. Each time they passed a window, Sylvie noticed that they had no glass, all was open, and she wondered what kind of weather they had here. They passed several people as they made their way through the maze of corridors, each bowing or curtsying.

"What does she mean by getting me ready to see the king?" Sylvie asked.

"You will be garbed in the cloth of our people, as befitting your station," Thor replied.

"What's my station?"

Thor did not respond, only smiled. A moment later they stopped in front of a set of large, double doors. Everything was large and exaggerated, Sylvie noted, each doorway wide enough for three people to pass. Two guards stood on either side and allowed Sylvie to pass. She turned around to see Thor standing in the doorway.

He bowed his head, "I leave you now, Lady Sylvie. I shall not see you again until the feast tonight."

"Feast?"

Thor smiled, "There is always a feast when I return from battle. And with you as a guest, it is sure to be a momentous occasion."

He left her confused and alone in the queen's chambers and Sylvie sat herself in front of the hearth and stared in to the fire. When she had been back on Earth she had felt out of place, as if she hadn't belonged, but now the feeling was even stronger. Nothing here was familiar, and she didn't have Steve to navigate the new territory with. The fire blazed for a moment as if in greeting, but Sylvie couldn't tell, her connection to fire had never been strong. A breeze floated in from the balcony, enveloping her in a warm wind, and tugged at her hair and caressed her skin in curiosity. Immediately she felt a sense of relief, at least she still had her powers. Now that she knew the wind still responded to her she wanted to leave the palace and acquaint herself with the fauna and flora of this world.

Sylvie heard the door opening behind her and spun around to see the queen enter. She was so graceful she almost seemed to float. She wondered if she'd ever be that graceful. She curtsied again and Frigga laughed.

"There is no need for that, dear," she smiled warmly. "Follow me, I'll show you to your chambers."

Sylvie hurried after the queen who led her out of the room and to a set of double doors, again, that were only a few yards down the hall. Frigga opened the doors to reveal a lavishly decorated sitting room. It was slightly smaller than the queen's had been, but not by much. Just like Frigga's room, there stood a grand stone fireplace at the opposite end of the room, surrounded by deep red wallpaper, and on either side double doors leading out to a balcony. The rest of the walls were cream-coloured, the trimmings gold, and the drapes at the windows were a deep midnight blue. Bursts of colour were scattered across the room in forms of cushions thrown over the ornate gold-painted wooden furniture, all in various luxurious textures. Paintings hung on the walls, depicting battle in some, others sex. Small artifacts had been placed on display on various bookshelves and tables. This room had clearly belonged to someone, and each piece of furniture and decor had obviously been picked with much care.

Frigga chuckled at Sylvie's stunned expression, "Yes, it's a bit ostentatious, isn't it?"

Sylvie nodded, "Yes, but in the most wonderful way. It reminds me of the way my mother used to decorate."

"These chambers belonged to Freyja," Frigga said, "She was a very good friend of mine."

"Oh, but I can't possibly stay here. These chambers were obviously precious to her."

"They were very precious to her, as were her possessions. This all belongs to you, now."

"But why?"

"She is your ancestor, child."

Sylvie's breath caught in her throat. Her ancestor was an Asgardian. That's why she could do all the things she could. Sylvie stepped further in to the room, running her hands over the furniture she passed, feeling the centuries-old carvings in the wood.

"We kept her rooms the way she left them, waiting for you."

Sylvie's heart swelled and she couldn't stamp the feeling of contentment rising within her. She felt as if she belonged there, almost as if she could feel Freyja's presence, welcoming her home. She ran her fingers along the soft fabrics of the cushions.

"What was she like?" Sylvie said, spinning around to look at Frigga, "Tell me everything."

Frigga laughed and led Sylvie to the seating in front of the hearth, pouring them each goblets of red wine. Sylvie drank, savouring the taste of the sweet wine on her tongue. It was much stronger than the wine on Earth.

"She was very much like you," Frigga said. "We were the best of friends."

"How did you meet?"

"After the Aesir-Vanir war, her father Njord was sent here as a show of peace. She and her twin brother Freyr came along. Her father's importance grew in the court and so she and I were introduced. She quickly came to love it here, and stayed for many years. The people adored her, for she was incredibly kind and beautiful. And she was very powerful, for she was highly skilled in the magic of the Vanir."

"She could talk to animals, too?"

Frigga shook her head, "No, your abilities are your own. Each person has an affinity towards certain magic. Freyja's magic manifested strongly in precognition."

"Visions?"

She nodded, "Sometimes she had visions, other times it was simply a feeling. And she was never wrong. Oh, she was so full of life. None could deter her when she had set her mind to something."

"You loved her very much."

"Yes. I miss her."

"What happened to her?"

"Love."

"That always seems to be the case, isn't it?" Sylvie said, thinking of Natasha's story that morning.

Frigga smiled sadly, "As you may be able to tell, she absolutely adored Midgard."

"All of this comes from Earth?"

"From your home of France, actually. She visited there quite often. It was there that she met a man, a mortal man. She begged the Allfather to make her human so that she could die with her lover when it was his time. She did not want to watch him age and die, always staying the same herself."

"And he did?"

Frigga nodded, "We tried to convince her to stay. At that time it wasn't exactly safe on Midgard, but she wouldn't listen. As I said, she was very strong-headed."

"Why wasn't it safe?"

"She was sent to Midgard as a human, but her magic still remained within her, although not as strong. She did her best to blend in with the rest of the mortals, but she couldn't stop herself from trying to help where she could. Eventually her peculiarities were noticed. It was the year 1430," Frigga sighed.

That year caused a tickle of recognition for Sylvie and Frigga waited for her to understand. It only took Sylvie a moment to remember.

"The witch trials," Sylvie whispered and Frigga nodded. "My mother used to tell me that one of my ancestors had been burned at the stake. I thought it was just a story she made up, a way to explain my strangeness."

"No, dear. Freyja left Asgard to live as a human. She and her husband had a daughter. When the witch trials began to happen, Freyja knew they would come for her. Her husband tried to convince her to run with him, for he alone knew who she really was, but she refused, Freyja was never one to run from a battle. All that mattered to her was her daughter's safety. So she let them take her, allowing time for her husband to flee with the girl. She was burned at the stake the next day."

"That's horrible," Sylvie sighed, fingering the necklace at her throat.

"Brisingamen," Frigga said fondly and Sylvie glanced up at her quizzically. Frigga answered, "That necklace is called Brisingamen. It was her most prized possession."

"How'd she get it?" Sylvie asked, "The painite gem is extremely rare."

Frigga smiled and giggled to herself. "She got it from four admiring dwarves. People used to say that she paid for it by laying with each dwarf in turn, but in actuality they adored her and gave it to her freely. She drank with them one night and they were so pleased just to be in her company that they gifted the necklace to her."

"Why did people think she laid with them?"

A mischievous smirk crept across Frigga's face but she didn't answer. She took a sip of her wine and then abruptly stood. "Allow me to show you the rest of your chambers. We'll need to get you ready soon."

She crossed the room to open another set of double doors leading in to a lavish bedchamber. The walls were painted dark brown and in the middle of the room sat a massive bed upholstered in rich magenta velvet, topped high with luxurious silk blankets in deep green, and fur throws, and pillows in various colours and textures. Sylvie had the sudden urge to jump on to it and bury herself in its soft depths. Frigga gave her no time to do so as she again crossed the room to open another set of double doors in to a bath chamber. It contrasted starkly to the abundance of colours and textures that the other two rooms had. The floors were made of white marble and the walls painted white. In the centre of the room sat a grand [url=[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4c/e2/a2/4ce2a25e1649c797eba12e33fb18950c.jpg]](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4c/e2/a2/4ce2a25e1649c797eba12e33fb18950c.jpg)marble tub[/url]. A few feet from it sat an [url=[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a1/e6/46/a1e64602bc77b90c1f9830c412d0bf1b.jpg]](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a1/e6/46/a1e64602bc77b90c1f9830c412d0bf1b.jpg)elegant white and gold chaise lounge[/url].

"Oh, my Queen, this is like something out of a fairy tale."

"Please, call me Frigga. And wait until you see the clothing," she smiled with a twinkle in her eye.

"I've never really cared much for clothing," Sylvie admitted.

"You'll like these."

Curiosity peeked, Sylvie dutifully followed Frigga back in to the bed chamber. Frigga opened one side of a beautiful mahogany armoire to reveal dozens of beautiful silk, velvet, and cloth gowns that took Sylvie's breath away. Tentatively, she reached a hand out to rub the fabric between her fingers. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that the material did not pain her. It sat in her hand delicately and yet she felt the strength in the fibres, ready and waiting.

"These were all made specifically for Freyja. She would be proud to know that they have been passed on to you."

"I don't know what to say. I've never seen anything so beautiful."

Frigga smiled, "You're welcome."

Next she opened the middle compartment to reveal simple golden jewelry. Only a few headpieces and bracelets and rings.

"Freyja was a lady of the court," Frigga said softly, moving to the third door, "But she was also a very skilled warrior. When you're ready, her armour will be waiting."

"I'm no warrior," Sylvie shook her head.

"On the contrary, my dear. I think you'll surprise yourself."

She finally opened the cabinet and Sylvie felt a surge of heat rush through her. Freyja's armour was delicate, womanly, and strong, in every way that a woman was. The white leather was worn but well taken care of. The golden armour was slightly chipped but buffed so that it shone brightly. Each weapon was cleaned and sharpened to perfection, knives and spear and sword. A gold and silver shield was lain at the foot. But what had really caught Sylvie's eye was the helm, an intricate golden cap with a trail of black fur and two imposing golden horns. The horns immediately reminded her of Loki's own helmet and she ran her fingertips along the ridges.

     

     

     

     

"Yes," Frigga sighed fondly, "Loki got the idea of horns for his helm from Freyja."

"Were they close?"

"Very. He was a small boy, and she taught him the magic of the Vana, and how to fight, so that he could match the other large warriors not with sheer size and strength, but with speed and agility and cunning. She hoped it would allow him to fight amongst them, so that he wasn't excluded. Unfortunately, it only ostracized him more."

"So, he wasn't always so -" Sylvie searched for a proper word to describe Loki. He didn't seem wholly evil, yet he surely was not a good man.

Thankfully she didn't need to find a word, Frigga understood, "No, he wasn't."

Sylvie felt sad for him. Obviously he had people who loved him, and cared for him, yet somehow he had still gone down the path of darkness and despair.

"There's one more thing," Frigga said cheerily, trying to lighten the mood. She opened the last cabinet to reveal another beautiful set of armour. This one however was in perfect condition, as if it had been made yesterday.

"This was Freyja's ceremonial armour, she did not fight in it. It is reserved for ceremonies, weddings, that sort of thing."

Sylvie could understand why. There was simply no way one could fight in such a costume. Beside it sat a cloak** of falcon feathers.

"What's this?" Sylvie asked, reaching out to touch it.

Frigga quickly grabbed Sylvie's hand, pulling it away from the cloak. "You mustn't touch. That was Freyja's cloak, and it is highly magical. Once you have learned how to control your magic, you will be able to use it."

"What does it do?"

"When wearing it, one can change their form in to that of a falcon, and it also allows the wearer to travel wherever they wish, even between worlds."

"That is some serious power," Sylvie muttered to herself.

"Now then, to meet with the King, you must be dressed in a fashion that befits your station. Any of these gowns will do. I'll leave you to get changed, I'll wait in the other room."

Sylvie nodded and watched Frigga glide away, shutting the doors behind her. With a great sigh, she collapsed on to the floor, completely overwhelmed. All of this was hers. All because hundreds of years ago Freyja fell in love with a mortal man. What did that mean for her? Was she mortal? Was she Vanir? Was she going to live as long as Thor?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I imagine the cloak going all the way down to the ground, though.


End file.
